Amends
by Scruffy Boots
Summary: PostNo Reason, OC, slight spoilers. House is finally awake and getting back in rare form. And oh my goodness, this story is nearing the end! Finally!
1. Chapter 1: Two Ks

**Author Note:** _This is my first fan fic ever, so please be gentle. I am still trying to get a hang of the terminology and rules of the road.I guess this would fall under OC with spoilers for the tail end of season 2, most importantly the finale episode of No Reason. I am all for constructive criticism, but rudeness will get you nowhere with me. I don't own House or any of its characters, however,I doown Kate._

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**Chapter 1: Two Ks**

House is rushed into the emergency room. Blood seeps from the wound in his neck and his shirt is darkened by more blood. The ducklings are all shouting instructions at the trauma team.

The trauma team works to stabilize him. The force Foreman and Chase away from the stretcher, but they cannot seem to get Cameron away. Cameron stays by House's side.

_He can't die. Please… he just can't. I can't imagine life without him. _Cameron's eyes are wet with unshed tears. She gasps when House's eyes fly open and pierce her with a gaze. Cameron breathlessly says "House!"

House looks at her and represses the urge to roll his eyes at her eyes that are shining with tears. He needs his energy for the request he needs to make. He grabs her hand and weakly says "Tell Cuddy: Ketamine. Give me Ketamine."

Cameron nods quickly and repeats "Ketamine."

House sucks in a pained breath as somebody pokes the gunshot wound in his abdomen. "And tell Cuddy: I want to see her best friend when I wake up." House's eyes flutter shut and he drops Cameron's hand.

Cameron stares at House in confusion. She says to no one in particular: "Cuddy's best friend?"

The trauma team takes advantage of Cameron's confusion and ushers her out of the trauma room. Cameron stands in the doorway of the trauma room, watching the talented doctors of the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital work to stabilize her boss.

Foreman studies Cameron with a look of concern. He says "He came to for a minute. What did he say?"

Cameron swings her gaze to Foreman. "He said to tell Cuddy to give him Ketamine…" Cameron pauses. She glances back at her boss being hooked to various tubes. "He also asked to see Cuddy's best friend when he wakes up."

Chase scoffs. "Like Cuddy has any friends, much less a best friend."

Foreman says "Ketamine? That makes no sense. I think he was just delusional, Cam. He asked for Cuddy's best friend next. Maybe he just didn't get the word 'Funbags' out before he passed out again."

Cameron shrugs. "I am going to go find Cuddy."

Cameron hurries towards Cuddy's office. Chase and Foreman follow for lack of anything better to do. Cameron flings open the door to Cuddy's office and walks in. Foreman and Chase follow her in.

Lisa Cuddy looks up from her desk. She has by now heard what has happened to her head of diagnostics. She arches an eyebrow at Cameron and says "What's his condition?"

Cameron says "They are prepping him for surgery. He came too for a few moments in the trauma room and asked me to tell you two things." Cuddy stares at Cameron waiting for her to continue. Cameron says "He wants ketamine for his surgery."

Cuddy slowly nods. His request makes sense to her. She says "Ok, what else did he want?"

Cameron slowly says "He said he wanted to see your best friend when he woke up." Cameron searches Cuddy's face for some sort of reaction that might clue her into the meaning of House's request. Cuddy's face remains a mask of seriousness.

Cuddy glares at Cameron and then finally says "Anything else?"

Cameron shakes her head. Cuddy hurries out her office to the surgical wing to find House's attending. Chase goes to Cuddy's desk and looks at some of the picture frames. He finally says "Do you suppose one of these women is Cuddy's best friend?"

Foreman and Cameron examine the pictures. In all three of the pictures, two women are present in all of them. The only person the ducklings recognize is Cuddy. They stare for close to another moment before Foreman finally speaks.

"We had better get out of here before Cuddy gets back and condemns to the Clinic for the entirety of House's recovery." Foreman leaves the office. Chase and Cameron reluctantly follow him.

Meanwhile, Cuddy has just finished giving instructions to House's attending surgeon and anesthesiaologist regarding what medication to use during his surgery. She returns to her office and is relieved to find the ducklings have left.

Cuddy sighs heavily as she sinks into her desk chair. She picks up the phone and dials a number from memory. The phone rings a few times before someone answers.

A cheerful voice says "Hello?"

Cuddy smiles at the warm voice on the other end of the line. "Kate, it's Lisa."

Kate laughs and says "Lisa! I was just thinking of you this morning. I was going to call you when I got home from work. What's going up on the East Coast?"

Cuddy says in a tight voice. "Something bad happened, Kate."

Kate's tone quickly turns serious. "What had happened?"

Cuddy says "Greg was shot."

Kate gasps in shock. "Oh my god. Is he ok?"

Cuddy says "He is in surgery right now to remove the bullets and stop the bleeding." Cuddy takes a deep breath before continuing. "Kate, he asked to see you when he wakes up."

Kate is obviously shocked. "He what?"

Cuddy says "He asked for ketamine for his surgery and he asked to see you when he wakes up."

The line is silent for a good minute. Cuddy begins to think that Kate hung up when Kate finally says in a quiet voice. "Fine. I will come." Kate hangs up on Lisa.


	2. Chapter 2: Unbelievable

**Chapter 2: Unbelievable**

Kate parks her rental car in the spot labeled "Reserved for Dean of Medicine". She gathers her belongings and heads to Cuddy's office. Once she gets there, she is surprised to see a young man sitting at the reception desk outside of Cuddy's office. He asks "Can I help you?"

"When will Dr. Cuddy be in?"

The young man confidently replies "Within the next 30 minutes. Do you have an appointment?"

Kate shakes her head. "No, but she is expecting me. I am going to wait in her office." Kate smiles at the young man and then turns to open the door to Cuddy's office.

As she opens the door, the young man says "You can't go in there."

Kate turns and stares Cuddy's assistant down. "Look, I have spent the last hour fighting traffic on the New Jersey turnpike. Before that, I spent close to eight hours sitting on an airplane. Dr. Cuddy knows I am coming and will not care if you let me lie down on her very comfortable couch. I haven't been to sleep in the last 27 hours. I am tired, cranky and don't particularly want to be in New Jersey right now. If you don't like it, call her and tell her to come see me right now."

Kate marches into Cuddy's office and pulls the door shut behind her. She puts her things on Cuddy's coffee table and kicks off her shoes. Kate makes herself comfortable on the couch. She immediately dozes off.

Kate awakens to somebody shaking her. Kate's bright green eyes fly open. She sees that Cuddy is leaning over her. Kate rubs the sleep from her eyes and sits up.

Cuddy studies her best friend for a moment. "How is it you don't age?"

Kate chuckles. "I think your eyesight is going as you age. Don't you see my wrinkles?"

Cuddy rolls her eyes. "Oh please. You don't have wrinkles, you don't have age spots and you don't have gray hair." Cuddy gives Kate a big hug. "You look fantastic."

Kate grins. "You look pretty damn good too. I bet you still don't have to work out at all to maintain that figure. I have to run at least two miles a day to maintain my weight."

"Oh, I work out when I can and watch I eat. My metabolism is slowing a bit as I get older." Cuddy sits behind her desk and gestures to one of the chairs in front of her desk. Kate sits down. "I wasn't expecting you until this afternoon."

"I got the earliest flight I could find. I figured if he was asking for me, I had better hurry up. How is he doing?"

Cuddy sighs. "He was shot in the neck and stomach. The bullets were removed with minor complications. He is in a dissociative coma. Remember that article you and I had discussed awhile ago about Ketamine and using it to reboot the brain? He asked for Ketamine and we did it."

Kate's eyes widen. "How long has he been under?"

"Since yesterday afternoon. He should awaken in the next day or so."

Kate nods. "I truly hope it works for him."

There is a knock on Cuddy's door. The two women look at the doorway and see Wilson poking his head in. Wilson grins when he sees Kate.

Cuddy smiles. "Come in."

Wilson walks over to Kate. She stands up and gives her a hug. Kate murmurs "It's good to see you, Jimmy. Lisa told me about your divorce."

Wilson has slightly chagrined look on his face. "Well, you know how it goes with me."

Kate shrugs. "Oh Jimmy, you are fantastic during the courting phase of a relationship; you just don't understand how to maintain a relationship once you get into it." Kate watches his shoulders droop. "Oh come on, that can't be nearly as bad as what Greg said when he found out."

Wilson nods in agreement. "That is very true." Wilson studies Kate for a moment. She still wears her blond hair at her shoulders and still has a good figure. "So, you came."

"I did. But why did he ask for me? It has been years since I spoken to him and even longer since I have seen him. I mean, Lisa keeps me up to date on the basics, but why on earth would he want to see me?"

Wilson says "I am not trying to be rude, but do you think it is possible he was just getting delusional?"

Cuddy firmly says "No. He wouldn't have asked for Ketamine in one breath and then Kate in the next. He will be awake soon enough and we can ask him then why he wanted to see Kate."

Kate asks "Can I go see him for a few minutes? Then I need to get a hotel room and get some sleep."

Wilson says "You don't have to get a hotel room. I have an extra bedroom at my apartment and I live about 5 minutes from here. That way, if he suddenly wakes up—"

Cuddy interjects "Or you can stay at my place. I have plenty of room."

Kate says "For the short term, until Greg wakes up, I will stay at Jimmy's place. Once Greg is awake and tells me why he asked to see me, I will go to your place, Lisa."

Lisa smirks and says "Always the queen of compromise. That's fine. I will take you up to see him."

Wilson says "I will take your bags to my office. Come down when you are done and I will take you to my place so you can get some rest." Kate nods.

Cuddy leads Kate to House's ICU room. Kate walks up to the glass wall and stares at the bed. Cuddy hears Kate's sharp intake of breath and winces at her friend's shock. Chase is sitting on a chair in the room, working a sudoko puzzle. Cuddy is still impressed that House's fellows are taking turns to be with him in addition to managing their case load and clinic hours.

Kate quietly asks "Who is the blond boy toy? My god, his hair is better than mine!"

Cuddy stifles her laugh. "That is Dr. Chase, one of House's fellows for the diagnostics department. There are two other doctors on the team, Dr. Foreman and Dr. Cameron. The three of them have been taking turns sitting with House, in addition to working their case and their clinic hours."

Kate thoughtfully nods. "Well, once I get some sleep, I will relieve them of that duty. He would probably be irritated if he knew they were keeping vigil over him."

Cuddy asks "And won't he be angry and irritated with you?"

"Like I care. Besides, I don't work for him and I won't have to put up with his verbal assault when he is better." Kate turns to look at Cuddy. "Did you call his mom?"

Cuddy nods. "His parents are in South America right now, but will try to get here as soon as possible."

Kate says "His poor mother his probably frantic. And his dad is probably complaining about how a real man would walk it off." Kate turns back to the room. "Can you get rid of Dr. Chase? I don't want to try to explain who I am and what my relationship with Greg is right now."

"Of course." Kate watches Cuddy go in to the room. She can't hear what Cuddy is saying, but she does note that Dr. Chase doesn't look too disturbed about having to leave House for a few minutes. Kate thinks _It was obviously not _his_ idea to keep vigil at House's bed._ Chase walks out of the room and heads to the nurses' station. Cuddy beckons Kate into the room.

Kate walks into the room. The room is silent other than the white noise of the machines being accented by occasional beeps. As Kate walks to the side of the bed, Cuddy quietly eases out of the room.

Kate stares at House. He is pale and gaunt compared to the last time she saw him. He has a lot more gray hair, but about the same amount of stubble. She smiles at her thoughts. "Well, Greg, I have to admit, curiosity got the best of me. All those years ago, I swore I would never see you again, but here I am, standing at your bedside. Honestly, how much of a jerk do you have to be to be shot by a patient? You need to work on your people skills." Kate picks up a damp washcloth and moistens his lips. "Why did you ask for me? Do you want me to take care of you while you recover? Do you think this is payback for when you took care of me? If so, you have conveniently forgotten that it was _your_ fault that I was in ICU that time. You owed me and I most certainly don't owe you."

Cuddy stands outside the room and watches Kate talk to House. She nearly jumps out her skin when she hears Cameron hiss "Who is that with House?" in her ear.

Cuddy's answer is frigid. "That is the person House requested to see."

Cameron is not put off by Cuddy's tone. "That's your best friend?"

Cuddy nods. "Yes, that is my best friend, Kate Kowal."

Cameron stares at Kate. Cameron casually asks "How long have you been friends?"

Cuddy gets a nostalgic look upon her face. "I have known Kate since she was in college and I was in med school."

Cameron asks "Is she a doctor?"

Cuddy nods. "She is a rheumatologist. Head of her department at her hospital in Seattle."

Cameron digests this information while she watches Kate interact with House. Kate reaches up and brushes House's hair off his brow. Cameron feels oddly discomforted by the intimate touch. Cuddy says "She has done some amazing research on autoimmune diseases. You would probably find her work very fascinating. Perhaps you have already heard of her?"

Cameron turns her gaze back to Cuddy and stammers "Uh, no."

Cuddy continues. "Really? I am surprised. I figured House would have mentioned some of her work in one of your cases. But then again, maybe he—"

Before Cameron can stop herself, she blurts "How does she know House?"

Kate has just stepped out of the room and looks a bit confused. She says "How do I know House? He writes me a hefty alimony check every month."

Cuddy can't help herself. She smirks at the look of shock on Cameron's face. Cameron's jaw has dropped open and her eyes are wide. Cuddy glances at Kate and realizes Kate is fighting not to laugh at the younger doctor.

Cameron sputters "You're… You're his _ex-wife_?"

Kate nods and smiles. "I am."

Cameron shakes her head in disbelief. "Then why are you here?"

Kate leans in toward Cameron and says "Don't take this the wrong way, ok?" Cameron nods dumbly. Kate says "I am here to make sure that jerk of an ex-husband doesn't kick the bucket and leave me without my monthly check. It would really mess up my shopping sprees." Kate winks at Cameron, who is know speechless with shock.

Cuddy gulps her laughter down. She manages to say "Kate, are you ready to go?"

Kate smiles and nods. "I am." Kate sticks her hand out to Cameron and says "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."

Cameron mumbles "I'm Dr. Cameron. I work for House." Kate grabs her hand and firmly shakes it. Cameron snatches her hand from Kate.

Kate puts a look of false sympathy on her face. "Oooo. You work for him? My condolences." Kate says to Cuddy "Let's rock and roll. Did you tell the nurses to contact me if he wakes up? I want to be here when he wakes up."

Cuddy nods as she leads Kate down the hall. Cameron watches the two women walk away. She is still trying to comprehend what just happened. She thinks _House was married. To Cuddy's best friend. This is unbelievable._


	3. Chapter 3: The Bet

Author's note: Still don't _House_. The questions of "I thought House was never married" is addressed in this chapter. Cameron isn't so much jealous as she is indignant.

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**Chapter 3: The Bet**

Cameron slowly walks back to the conference room. She finds Chase and Foreman in the conference room. Chase has his feet kicked up on the table and is working on a crossword puzzle. Foreman is studying his flashcards he made after his brain biopsy and illness.

Cameron walks into the conference room. She looks at Chase and asks "Did you meet that woman? Cuddy's friend?"

Chase shrugs. "Was she the cute blonde with Cuddy?" Cameron throws her hands up in exasperation. "I'll take that as a yes. No, I was not formally introduced. Cuddy told me to hit the road when they got up to House's room."

Cameron goes to the coffee maker. She swishes the coffee in the pot and then dumps it in the sink. She sets about making a fresh pot. Foreman glances over at Chase and smirks when Chase lifts his eyes to the ceiling and shrugs.

Chase asks "Cam, did Cuddy introduce you?"

Cameron measures out the coffee grounds. "Actually, she introduced herself."

Foreman sets his cards on the table. "So, what's her name?"

Cameron pours water into the machine and then turns it on to brew. "Her name is Dr. Kate Kowal. She is Cuddy's friend. Cuddy said she is a rheumatologist from Seattle. She is the department head at some hospital there."

Chase puts his puzzle down. "How does she know House?"

Cameron faces her two co-workers. "She claims to be House's ex-wife."

Foreman starts laughing. Chase looks confused and says "What do you mean 'claims'? She either is or isn't."

Cameron walks over to the conference table. "When I asked Cuddy how she knew House, she walked out of House's room and said 'He writes me a hefty alimony check every month.'"

Foreman laughs harder. Chase starts to laugh too. Cameron stares at the as they have lost their minds. She says "How is this funny? Our boss has an ex-wife and he never bothered to tell us!"

Chase points out "Lots of people are divorced, Cam. My parents were. Hell, even Wilson is getting divorced."

Cameron says "But why wouldn't he tell us that he was married once? He told me that he had never been married?"

Foreman deadpans "Everybody lies, Cameron." She frowns at him. He continues "Cameron, even you were married once." Cameron looks shocked. "What? You never told us. House did, one day when he was bored and you were in the Clinic. He said that was why he thought you had so many issues."

Cameron indignantly says "I don't have issues."

Foreman shrugs. "I am not saying you have issues. That is what House said. But, consider this: Should Chase and I consider you a liar because you never told us you were married? Or should we just assume that since you are not married now, there is some sort of history attached to that relationship from the past that you don't want to dredge up and relive today? Maybe House and his ex-wife had an especially nasty breakup and he didn't feel like telling his staff about it. It doesn't make him any less of a doctor or any less of a pain in the ass."

Cameron considers what Foreman says. Chase gets up as the coffee finishes brewing and rinses out his coffee cup. Cameron says "But why wouldn't he tell us? He seems to know everything about us. Why shouldn't we know about him?"

Chase shrugs. "I really could care less if House was married before or not." He stirs some creamer into his coffee. "Hey, do you s'pose she is single? She was awfully good looking."

Cameron groans. "I swear all you think about is hooking up with women." Chase impishly grins.

Foreman says "Cameron, I think you are just mad that House lied to you. I don't know why you are so surprised about him lying."

"But why would he lie to me about being married?"

Foreman looks at her with pity. "Why does House do half the things he does? You know, we should all cut this poor woman some slack. I mean, she must not be that bad of a person if she came all the way from Seattle to see him."

Chase settles into his seat. "Do you s'pose she is nuts? I mean, she _was _married to House. I would think that any woman that married him had to be a bit off."

Foreman smirks at Chase. "I think that if she divorced him, she probably was only suffering from temporary insanity."

Cameron walks over to the coffee machine and pours herself a cup of coffee. "You don't know that she divorced him. House probably divorced her. After all, he is the one who stayed in the same state as Cuddy after the divorce. It would have made more sense that she stayed near her best friend. I bet he divorced her."

Chase points out "You said House pays her alimony."

Cameron shrugs. "Big deal. It's more common that the man gets stuck paying alimony to the woman. I bet he divorced her."

Foreman's eyes light up. "You serious? You willing to be on it, because I will take you up on the bet."

Cameron's eyes twinkle. "Ok, you are on. I will be you 200 dollars that he filed for divorce from her."

Foreman grins. "And I bet she filed for divorce from him. Chase, are you in?"

Chase shakes his head. "Nope, I am broke this week. Besides, I don't feel right about betting on her if I am going to ask her out." Cameron rolls her eyes.

Foreman laughs. "Chase, I am so glad you have a conscience."

Chase shrugs off the remark. "So, how are you two going to find out who filed for divorce from whom?"

Cameron says "We could check the public records."

Foreman replies "Or we could go ask Cuddy."

Cameron shakes her head. "Cuddy is going to be biased towards her friend. We can look up the public records." Cameron gets her laptop and starts surfing for the information on the internet. After several minutes, Cameron frowns.

Foreman asks "What is it?"

"If they were divorced in the county, only the last two years of records are available online. I don't see House's name, so I am assuming they have been divorced more than two years," Cameron tells them.

Foreman frowns. "Then let's go ask Cuddy."

Chase suddenly grins. "I have a better idea." Foreman and Cameron look at him. "Go search House's apartment."

Foreman and Cameron smile smugly at each other. Foreman mockingly says "What? No objections from the voice of morality?"

Cameron grabs her jacket. "House would do the same to any of us. Let's go. Chase, are you coming?"

Chase stands up and says "Why not?"

The three ducklings head to House's apartment. Foreman easily breaks in the front door. They walk into the apartment. Chase pulls the door shut behind him and says "Well, we can wreak all sorts of havoc; the only person who lives here is in a coma and won't be back here for a few days."

Foreman makes a beeline for the filing cabinet and starts searching it. Cameron walks over to Steve McQueen's cage. She says "I had forgotten about his rat. What do you think he was feeding Steve?"

Chase shrugs. "Is there a canister of rat food around?" Cameron finds it and nods. She feeds the rodent. Chase peruses the titles of the books on the bookshelf. Cameron walks over to the piano. She gently runs her fingers over the ivory keys. She feels slightly guilty for invading House's home. Chase wanders back to House's bedroom. Cameron looks at some of the sheet music on the piano top. It is a mixture of jazz, blues and classical music. Most of the composer names are obscure.

Chase calls out "Who wants to know if House wears boxers or briefs?"

Cameron arches an eyebrow at Foreman who looks disturbed. Foreman says "Chase, why on earth are you checking out House's underwear?" Foreman and Cameron listen to Chase nervously cough and stutter for a moment. Cameron starts going through some papers on House's desk.

Foreman says "Aha! Jackpot!" He holds up a folder labeled "Kowal". Chase comes out of House's bedroom with a copy of _Hustler_.

Cameron incredulously says "Chase! What the hell is that?"

Chase looks at her like she is stupid. "It's this month's _Hustler_. Why? You want a peek?"

Foreman ignores them as he flips through the folder. He suddenly grins and hands a paper to Cameron and says "I win."

Cameron snatches the paper from and quickly scans it. It says that Katherine Marie Kowal-House filed for divorce from Gregory Daniel House citing irreconcilable differences. The date on the paper shows that the divorce occurred well before House's infarction and before he dated Stacy. Cameron also notes that they were married for close to five years before they divorced. She hands the paper back at Foreman and says "We need to stop at an ATM on the way back."

Foreman says "Of course." He puts the paper back in the folder and returns the folder to its original location in the desk. Cameron exits the apartment, followed by Foreman. Chase rolls the copy of _Hustler_ up and sticks it in his jacket. Chase pulls the door shut behind him.


	4. Chapter 4: Story time

**Chapter 4: Story time**

Wilson shows Kate around his apartment. He makes the tour quick because Kate appears to be exhausted. He shows her the kitchen, the living room, the balcony and the spare bedroom and bathroom that she will be using. Kate attempts to stifle another yawn.

"Kate, why don't you get some sleep now? You are obviously exhausted."

Kate smiles sadly. "You know when you have been awake for far too long and you know you are tired, but you also know that if you go to bed at that very minute, you won't be able to sleep?" Wilson nods. "Uh huh, that's me right now."

Wilson sighs. "How about you get ready for bed while I make you a nice cup of chamomile tea? Then I will tell you a bedtime story." His eyes twinkle at her.

Kate smiles at Wilson. "I would rather have peppermint tea with milk, if you have it. My allergies are starting up and the plane ride gave me a nasty case of post-nasal drip."

Wilson grins. "It's a deal." He starts to walk to the kitchen and then stops to ask: "Did anyone ever tell you that a woman talking about her post-nasal drip is not a turn-on for most men?"

Kate snorts. "Ha! Lucky for me I have given up on trying to be a turn-on for men." Wilson rolls his eyes and heads for the kitchen. Kate turns to her suitcase and fishes out some pajama pants and a tank top. She goes in the bathroom to change. Once she has changed, she throws her dirty clothes on the floor and climbs into bed.

Wilson returns with a steaming tea cup. He carefully hands it to her and asks "Are you hungry?"

Kate shakes her head and pats the side of the bed. "I have my tea. Now I am ready for my bedtime story."

Wilson sits on the side of the bed. "Any bedtime story requests?"

Kate sips her tea. "How about the story of House and his ex-girlfriend Stacy, part two?"

"Well, obviously Cuddy told you something if you are asking. What do you know?"

"Lisa told me about Stacy asking for Greg to diagnose her husband. I knew they dated before his infarction. Lisa seemed to hint that Greg slept with Stacy right before she left the hospital."

"He did. Stacy was prepared to leave her husband for him, but he shot her down."

"What, the lure of free sex wasn't enough for him?"

"Stacy would have expected him to change for her at some point and he wasn't willing to change for her."

Kate shakes her head. "I am glad to see his still has that stubborn streak. Forgive me Wilson, but I was wrong. I don't really want to talk about the women Greg has been with since we divorced. Tell me a different story, like something about his staff."

"Which ones have you met so far?"

"I met Chase and Cameron. Is all of his staff pretty?"

Wilson laughs. "Pretty? That is an interesting way to put it. I don't think they are all 'pretty', but they are all attractive and intelligent people. The first person House hired was Robert Chase, an intensivist. House claims the only reason he hired Chase was that Chase's father asked him to. You may have heard of his dad: Rowan Chase."

Kate nods. "Of course. He recently passed away from cancer, didn't he?"

Wilson nods. "Chase and House had some friction last year, but I think they have gotten past it now. Then you have Eric Foreman. Foreman is a neurologist. He is extremely bright and probably the most like House, personality-wise. And finally, you have Allison Cameron, an immunologist. She is also a very talented doctor. Oh, you'll get a kick out of this: she made House take her on a date."

Kate chuckles. "Is that why she didn't seem to care for me?"

Wilson shrugs. "Cameron tends to see things in black and white. She seems to consider most things cut and dry and does not seem receptive to the gray areas. House is constantly telling her everybody lies."

Kate digests this information. "Greg doesn't tell people he was married, does he?"

Wilson rolls his eyes. "Well, duh. Why do you ask?"

"Cameron seemed really shocked that Greg was once married to me."

"Well, I don't see House bringing it up in conversation. Actually, come to think of it, I am pretty sure he told her he was never married."

"Well, like he always says, everybody lies and that most certainly includes him."

Wilson nods in agreement. They sit silently for a few minutes. Wilson finally speaks. "Honestly, what do you expect to come out of this? I mean, really, why did you come?"

Kate plucks at invisible fuzz balls on the blanket. "I was curious as to why my ex-husband was asking for me after he was shot. I haven't spoken to Greg since the day the divorce was finalized in court. It doesn't make sense why he asked for me, Jimmy. I had a lot of vacation time accrued, so I figured 'what the hell?' and came out here. I figured I would come, make sure the source of my additional income was still alive and well and visit with my close friends. I haven't seen Lisa in a few months and the last time I saw you was when you were out west for that oncology conference three years ago." Kate smothers another yawn.

Wilson stands up and says "I am going to go watch TV. Get some sleep. If I hear any news about Greg waking up, I will wake you up."

"Ok." Wilson leaves the bedroom. Kate tries to find a comfortable position on the crappy IKEA bed. She quickly falls asleep.


	5. Chapter 5: The Dream

**Chapter 5: The Dream**

_The wind whipped her long hair as the small convertible hurtled down the curvy road. The sky was inky black bathed with the soft glow of moonlight. The radio blasted some smoky blues tune. The headlights of the convertible bounced off the trees that lined the road. _

_He said something funny and she laughed at him. He was always making her laugh. She never was one for laughing much before him. She grew up in a somber household. She never really learned how to laugh until she was in college and met people who understood her, who knew her and who appreciated her._

_He said over the music: "I love you."_

_She squeezed his hand that was working the gear box. He looked at her and those eyes pierced her with that look that made her melt inside. It was the look that screamed "you are mine." She smiled at him. He winked at her. _

_She shouted over the radio "If you keep looking at me like that, I am going to rip your clothes off when we get home."_

"_And that's supposed to be a bad thing?"_

_She could make out his smirk in the moonlight. At that moment, no woman could love a man as much as she loved him. Everything was good in life… No, make that perfect. Everything was perfect._

_She squinted when the bright headlights appeared the side view mirror. She was slightly surprised. It was late on a weeknight. Most people were asleep in their beds. The car behind them seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was quickly on their rear bumper. _

_She said "Where did they come from?" He glanced in the rearview mirror and shrugged. He stepped on the accelerator and the convertible sped ahead. The car behind them quickly closed the distance. Kate glanced over at him and realized his look was suddenly grim. _

_The car behind them pulled into the other lane and edged up next to them. There were four men in the car—one driving and the others riding. The passengers leaned out the window and started yelling at the convertible. _

_Her stomach tightened with fear. "Ease off. Let them pass." She watched him contemplate it and take his foot off the accelerator. She heaved a sigh of relief._

_The other car slowed down so it was at their side again. One of the young men screamed "What? You chicken, buddy? Afraid we'll show you up in front of your girl?"_

_She cringed when he frowned. He looked over at the car and cruelly smiled. She appealed to him to let it go. "Don't do it. Just let them go. You are more of a man than they'll ever be."_

_One of the young men shouted "I bet she has him whipped and won't let him race us!" The insult was all it took. He jammed his foot on the accelerator and the car effortlessly surged forward. A shout of excitement came from the other car._

_He was winning. She snuck a glance at the speedometer. It read 80 mph and was progressing smoothly to 90. She firmly said "This is ridiculous. Stop it right now!" He ignored her. The tires squealed on the pavement as they took the next curve. The other car was gaining on them. She attempted her best rational tone. "Look, I know you like speed, but this is ridiculous. You are going to get those dumb kids killed." _

_He shrugged with indifference. "Nobody is going to get hurt. Stop worrying."_

_The other car suddenly shot past them, honking madly. He muttered something unintelligible as they cut him off as they got in his lane. He pulled into the left lane to zip by them. She gripped the door handle until her knuckles turned white. He pulled past the car. Suddenly, he saw the oncoming headlights and uttered "Shit." _

_He quickly maneuvered into the right lane. The car behind him had edged forward and clipped the back end of the convertible. The convertible wildly fishtailed. She froze in fear while he valiantly tried to regain control. The back end of the convertible swung into the left lane at the oncoming car. She gasped "Oh my god" right before it happened._

_The back of the convertible clipped the back end of the oncoming car. The oncoming car went off the side of the road while the convertible continued to spin counterclockwise. She saw the fear in the eyes of the driver of the car they were racing as the convertible completed the first 180 degrees of the spin. She heard the brakes of the car they were racing squeal as they completed the next 180 degrees. In the beginning of the second revolution, she realized he couldn't regain control of the car, yet she barely noticed that he was swearing as he tried to steer the car. Halfway through the second revolution, she realized she forgot to feed the cat. She realized 270 degrees into the second revolution that they were going to hit a huge oak tree and she began to scream._

_At the end of the second revolution, the back panel of the passenger side of the convertible slammed into the oak tree. The impact slammed her against the tree. The car crumpled around the tree. She was immediately knocked out cold. He was also knocked out, but just for a minute. _

_His eyes fluttered open and he took inventory. Nothing bleeding; nothing broken. He suddenly remembered she was in the car too. He started yelling her name. He saw a broken bone protruding from her arm. He smelled the gasoline leaking from the shattered car. He quickly freed her from the car and carried her away from the vehicle. He gently laid her on the ground. He gingerly started probing for broken bones and surmised her hip was broken. He pulled up her shirt and found evidence of internal bleeding. He was overcome with nausea. He fumbled for his cell phone and called for an ambulance. Once he finished giving their location to the dispatcher, he attempted to revive her. "Come on babe, wake up."_

_Her eyes fluttered open and her face was etched with pain. She whimpered "What happened? I hurt everywhere." She turned to look at the car that was starting to burn. She swung her gaze back to him and said "We wrecked?" He nodded. "Oh my god. The baby! Please don't let me lose the baby! DAMN YOU!"_

Kate wakes up to Wilson shaking her. Confusion dances in her eyes as they slowly focuses on him.

He tells her "You were having a nightmare. You were screaming 'Damn you' over and over." He helps her sit up. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kate hoarsely says "I haven't had that dream in years. It was the accident."

Wilson nods sympathetically. "You ok now?"

Kate nods. "I am. I was just caught off guard by the dream." She rubs the sleep from her eyes. "What time is it?"

Wilson says "It's close to six pm. I hadn't heard anything from the hospital, so I gave Cuddy a call about an hour ago. He is still in the coma."

Kate stands up. "I am going to grab a shower. Then I am going to take you to dinner to thank you for letting me crash here." Wilson starts to protest but Kate silences him. "It is the least I can do. Once we are done, I want to back to the hospital for awhile."

"Ok. But nothing fancy for dinner, ok?"

Kate nods as she goes into the bathroom. "I suppose." She pulls the door behind her and takes a long, hot shower. Once she is done, she proceeds to blow dry her hair. Once her hair is dry, she grabs cleans clothes from her suitcase. She decides to wear jeans and a green shirt with a deep v-neck. She walks into the living room to find Wilson watching _Cheaters_. She smirks. "Jeez, you watch that crap?"

Wilson appears chagrinned. "House got me hooked on it while I was staying with him. He watches some of the trashiest TV out there."

Kate laughs. "Some things never change. You ready to go?"

Wilson stands up and says "I am. How about I drive? You still look really tired."

Kate nods and they head out to his car.


	6. Chapter 6: Wake up, Sleepyhead

**Chapter 6: Wake up, Sleepyhead**

Kate is standing in the hallway of the ICU, watching Wilson yap at House. House's doctors and nurses claim that he is showing signs of waking up very soon. Wilson gestures while he talks to House.

Kate sips her coffee as she watches Wilson. She starts thinking about House. _I want him to wake up, but I am scared of what will happen when he does. What am I supposed to say to him? Hi asshole? Did you ask for me so you could apologize? Is this your idea of funny? Ugh! Why did I come here? _Kate begins to nervously twist a strand of hair while she stands outside of House's room. _I know I don't still love him. But I don't hate him very much either. I guess time has healed that wound. I wonder how much of jerk he really is now? Lisa said he still makes lots of questionable remarks about her cleavage. Jeez, you would think she would have slapped him with some sort of discipline. I am amazed he hasn't been sued for sexual harassment. Heh. I guess all those malpractice suits make up for that._

Wilson walks out of House's room. He says "I am going down to my office to catch up on patient files. If you need anything, page me or call me. I will come back up when I am getting ready to head back home."

"Will do." Wilson gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he hurries down to his office. Kate goes into House's room and sits in the chair next to his bed. She sets her purse on the floor next to her seat and stares at House.

House is doing well enough that he has been taken off the ventilator. He has an IV running to his hand and is hooked up to a monitor that is tracking his vitals. Kate glances at the monitor and notes that his vitals have improved since she visited earlier that morning. She pulls a medical journal out of her bag and starts to read.

Kate reads for close to an hour, when she hears a rustling sound coming from the hospital bed. She looks up from her journal and sees that House's hand is twitching on the blanket. She stands up and places the journal on her chair. She goes to the bedside and says "Greg, wake up."

House groans. The monitor shows that his vitals are increasing to normal values. A nurse comes into the room. "Is he waking up?"

"It appears so." Kate grabs a cup of water from the small bedside table to the left of the bed. It has a small sponge swab in it. Kate gently moistens House's cracked lips. She sets the cup down and turns back to the bed. She firmly says "Ok Greg, enough of this pussy-footing around. Wake up."

House's eyes flutter open. It takes him a moment to focus his eyes. His head is facing the nurse on his right side. He sees the nurse first and makes a face. He croaks in a hoarse voice to the nurse "You sound just like my ex-wife."

The nurse smiles at him. Kate says "No, she doesn't. I sound like your ex-wife."

House turns and sees Kate. He smirks at her. Kate rolls her eyes at him. His smirk turns into a grin. He says "You came. Does that mean they gave me ketamine?"

Kate nods. "They did."

House says "Good job, Cameron." House licks his lips and asks "Can I have some water; I am thirsty."

Kate pours a fresh cup of water. The nurse elevates the back of the bed to a sitting position. Once the bed is done moving, Kate holds the cup to House's lips and he sips from it. Once he has had enough, he turns his head away. Kate sets the cup on the table. The nurse excuses herself to go page House's doctor.

Kate studies House's face. He has bags under his eyes and has much more stubble than he normally would. His blue eyes seem a bit dull. His hair is sticking up in about thirty different directions. He seems slightly dazed. He startles Kate by asking "So, why did you come?"

Kate stares at him. "I really don't know why. There was no logical reason for me to come. My best guess is that I was either really bored or I am a glutton for punishment. Although, if I didn't use up some of my vacation time, I was going to lose the time. Why did you ask for me to come?"

Greg says "I want you take care of me while I recuperate. And I want you to cover for me at work for me while I am out."

Kate laughs. "I didn't realize you had brain damage from being shot."

Greg says in a serious tone "I will pay you to do it."

"I don't need your money."

Greg raises an eyebrow. "Then why do you keep cashing my alimony checks?"

Kate struggles to keep her tone calm. "Because I can. It really is none of your business."

"What, do you buy shoes with it?"

Kate shrugs. "Sure, if I am in the mood for shoes. Don't worry, Greggy-poo, at the end of this year, you don't have to pay me anymore alimony. It will have been ten years and that was all the judge ordered."

"Trust me; I'm more than well aware of it. Now back to the subject at hand. I want you to stay and help me out while I recuperate. I want you to run my department. Take a leave of absence from your job. You can have my salary for the time you work, plus I'll pay you too."

"You've lost your mind."

House's eyes narrow. "I think you are scared to do it."

Kate realizes she is falling into his trap, yet she can't seem to stop herself. "I AM NOT! I just don't want to put up with your snark and unpleasantness while you recuperate. Why don't you get your ex-girlfriend to do it? Or Wilson?"

House shakes his head. "Stacy wouldn't do it for a million dollars and world peace. And I like Wilson, but he'd smother me with his girlish concern. Honestly, you're the best choice. You already hate me, so it's not like I can piss you off anymore. Plus you're mean, and you won't let me sit and wallow in self-pity. And even if you won't admit it, you're still intrigued by me."

Kate vehemently shakes her head. "I am _not_ intrigued by you."

"You are, otherwise you wouldn't be here right now. You would have told Cuddy where to go shove it when she asked you to come, even though you two are best friends forever." House bats his eyelashes at Kate.

Kate grabs the medical journal and jams it in her bag. She picks up her bag and coffee cup and says "You're an ass. You were an ass when I was married to you. You'll always be an ass. But, I am a dumbass for thinking two bullets might convince you to not be an ass. I'm glad you aren't dead. I expect my next alimony check on time and being shot is not an excuse for being late." Kate heads for the doorway.

"Kat." House's voice stops her. She slightly softens at his use of his pet name for her. "Please, will you stay and help me out? You are the only one I trust to not make any stupid decisions."

Kate is silent for a moment and then says "I'll think about it." She hurries away.

House smiles at her and thinks _Round 1 goes to Greg House_.


	7. Chapter 7: Wilson’s job is never done

**Chapter 7: Wilson's job is never done**

Wilson walks up to the ICU. He sees two nurses standing outside of House's room. As he gets closer, he can hear them arguing about who has to go in and deal with House. Wilson sighs. He walks over to the nurses and says "What needs to be done? I will do it."

The two nurses look grateful. One of the nurses says "We need his vitals and a blood for a CBC and Chem 7 and a urine sample." Wilson nods. "Dr. House is being very difficult and arguing with everything we try to do."

_Why am I not surprised?_ Wilson says "I'll do it. Can I give you the samples once I get them?"

The nurse says "You can just bring it t the nurses' station. We'll handle it from there. Thank you so much, Dr. Wilson."

Wilson nods. He goes in House's room. House looks up from reading his medical chart and immediately starts complaining to Wilson. "It's about time you came to see me! Who left that viper of an ex-wife in the room alone with me while I was comatose? I'm lucky she didn't smother me to death with a pillow!"

Wilson goes over to House and hands him the urine sample cup. "She wouldn't have smothered you to death. You took her name off all your life insurance policies. She wouldn't have gotten anything out of it."

House sticks the cup under the blanket and provides a sample. "She wouldn't have done it for money; she would've done it for revenge. She's a vindictive little thing; always has been." He slaps the lid on the sample cup and hands it back to Wilson.

Wilson rolls his eyes as he sets the urine sample aside. He gets a blood test kit out. "I was going to say I was glad you're awake, but now I'm not so sure."

"When your next cancer patient comes in to fill you full of lead, I'm going to give Julie first dibs on smothering you," House grumbles.

Wilson puts on a new pair of latex gloves and then ties House's arm off to find a vein. "I don't think we need to worry about me getting shot by a disgruntled patient. Generally, they are pretty happy they survive cancer."

House sneers. "And your disgruntled patients generally die before they ever realize how disgruntled they are."

Wilson shakes his head as he swabs House's arm with an alcohol pad. He then sticks House with the needle and begins to draw the blood. "I don't know why you are so pissed off. You're the one who asked to see her when you woke up, not me. I happen to think Kate is a nice person and she has been nothing but a good friend to me since the day I met her." Wilson swaps out vials and continues drawing blood.

"You just want to get in her well-fitting pants."

Wilson finishes drawing blood and removes the needle from House's arm. He tapes a gauze pad over the needle entry point. "I don't want to sleep with her."

"Why not? Are you gay? Are you secretly carrying a torch for someone else?"

"House! I'm not gay! I'm just not interested in Kate that way."

House narrows his eyes and conspiratorially whispers "But she's hot! Why wouldn't you want to hook up with her?"

Wilson puts the blood samples aside and snatches House's medical chart from his hands. As he makes some notations on the chart he says "I don't want to hook up with her because I value her friendship. Sleeping with her would mess it up. And oh yeah, I don't want to face the wrath of Greg House for hooking up with his ex-wife."

House innocently says "I wouldn't be mad."

Wilson laughs. "You're full of shit." Wilson hangs the chart on the wall and peels off the examination gloves. "How are you feeling?"

House shrugs. "Like I've been shot and been in a coma. I keep clicking the happy fun button, so it's not been too bad. Morphine is a good thing."

Wilson sighs. "How does your leg feel?"

"Eh, I can't tell with the morphine."

Wilson says "Let me run these samples over to the nurse's station. I'll be right back." Wilson brings the samples to the thankful nurses and then returns to House's room. Wilson pulls a stool close to the bed and sits. "What did you say to Kate? She was mad as a hatter and could barely speak when she got down to my office."

House petulantly claims "I didn't say anything."

Wilson tries to give House a harsh look, but House ends up laughing at him. Wilson points out: "It's not fair of you to be a jerk to her when you were the one who asked her to come here from Seattle."

House says "If you're going to sit here and lecture me on why I should be nice to my ex-wife, you can leave. Hell, send Cameron in. I would rather listen to her wax poetic on ethics than be lectured about my ex-wife. I would rather have Chase kiss me, but he probably wouldn't be willing since I'm of legal age. Am I making myself clear?"

"Crystal." Wilson stands up. "You need to start being nicer to the nurses. You keep being a jerk, and they are going to start giving you enemas for the hell of it."

House rolls his eyes. "Point taken. I figure they will be moving me out to the general population soon enough."

Wilson laughs. "You talk like you are in prison."

House's eyes get wide. "Aren't I? There is no tv, no windows, nobody to talk to. It's like I am in solitary confinement." Cuddy walks into the room. "Oh look! The warden has come for a visit!"

Cuddy frowns. "Damn, no improvement in attitude."

House mockingly says "Oh thank god! Dr. Partypants is here to heal me! You know, Cuddy, your cleavage has been reputed to have healing powers."

Cuddy places her hands on her hips. "Shut up, House. If you don't stop terrorizing the nurses, I will get the biggest, burliest nurse I can find up here to give you a sponge bath and enema."

House says "Do I get a happy ending? If so, I would much rather have you do it." He smirks at the frosty gaze Cuddy gives him. "On second thought, maybe not."

Cuddy says "You will most likely be moved to a private room sometime tomorrow. Your team is working clinic hours for the time being. There haven't been any interesting cases to throw them. While you recuperate, they're going to report to me."

House shakes his head. "No, they're going to report to Kate. She said she would cover for me while I recuperate."

Cuddy is surprised. "She said she would cover for you?"

"I asked her to. She will say yes when you ask her again. She told me no, but that's because she hates me. If you ask her, she will do it."

Cuddy sighs. "House, she is busy with her work in Seattle. What makes you think she will say yes?"

House winks and says "Because she can't resist me." House seriously says "Go ask her. She'll say yes if you do it."

Cuddy throws her hands up in exasperation. "Fine! I'll go ask her. But when she says no, your staff will report to me while you recuperate, understood?"

House obediently nods. "Yes, Mommy."


	8. Chapter 8: The deal

_**Author's Note**: Thanks for the kind reviews.I do read them and appreciate them.I can't seem to helpwriting in the present tense; for me personally, it flows much better. It is just the way my brain is wired.I am also trying to make sure I use more contractionsin my dialogue. I hadn't even realized that I was making the dialogue so formal. And I know that many of you are House/Cam shippers. I could completely get on that boat if they Cameron was written more consistently on the show. _

_I have been busy with life in general, so I haven't been writing as much, but I shall try harder. And I still don't own House._

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**Chapter 8: The deal**

Cuddy and Wilson walk back to his office. Cuddy asks how Kate is holding up.

"Well," Wilson says, "She was mad as a hatter when she came down. I don't know what House said to her, but she was ready to throttle him for it."

"What do you think about Kate covering for House while he recuperates?"

Wilson shrugs. "Kate is perfect for the job, but I don't know if she would do it."

Cuddy sighs. "It's a long shot. But maybe I can convince her. She will keep House in the loop, which means House won't be trying to butt in and focus on getting better. If the ketamine worked, he is going to have to go through a lot of physical therapy to learn how to walk without hurting himself."

Wilson opens the door to his office. Kate is sitting behind his desk, playing solitaire on the computer. She glances up at Wilson and Cuddy and then focuses her attention back on the computer. She tonelessly says "I'm leaving tomorrow."

Cuddy sits in the chair across from Kate. "I have a proposition for you." Kate continues playing solitaire. Cuddy says "Would you run House's department for the next three months? You'll get his salary, plus an attractive signing bonus if you will cover his position while he is recuperating. I'll also smooth things over with your boss in Seattle so you can take a leave of absence. Just think about how nice 'Head of Diagnostics' will look on your resume come raise-time."

Kate coldly says "House put you up to this."

Cuddy lies. "No, he didn't. I just thought it was a good opportunity for you to spend some time out east, beefing up your resume while spending time with some very good friends you rarely get to see." Kate stops clicking the mouse but continues to stare at the screen. "It would be really great to work together again, Kate."

Wilson chimes in. "You can help me find a new girlfriend." Cuddy incredulously looks at Wilson. "I mean, I have a lot of free time on my hands now that I'm getting divorced. We could hang out."

Kate bites the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at Wilson's earnest attempts to convince her to stay. She solemnly asks Wilson "Can we watch lots of chick flicks while you do my nails?"

Wilson visibly gulps. "Um, sure?"

Kate's gaze turns to Cuddy. "How often will I have to deal with House?"

"I think a half hour status meeting once a week is plenty. I'll facilitate the meeting in my office so you don't have to put up with him on your own. You'll have unlimited access to his office and the hospital facilities while you are here."

Kate firmly says "I'm not making up any of his backlog of clinic hours."

Cuddy concurs. "I'll only require three hours a week of clinic duty from you."

"If I can get my boss to approve a leave of absence for me, I'll do it." Kate glances at her watch. "Wilson, can I borrow your phone to give her a call? She may be in the office still."

Wilson nods. "Of course. We'll be out on the balcony if you need anyone to vouch for you." Wilson leads Cuddy to the balcony as Kate picks up the phone. He makes sure the door shuts before he speaks. "That was entirely too easy."

Cuddy smiles. "She had already made her decision. I think she was interested in how I was going to make my appeal."

Wilson glances in his office at Kate. "Doesn't that bother you?"

Cuddy shakes her head. "Of course not. I do the same thing. And if I know Kate, she is only calling to confirm her leave of absence, not request it. I bet she made arrangements for it before we even got down here."

"But… why is she so resistant to covering for House?"

Cuddy just smiles at Wilson and pats his arm. "Because she is just as difficult as House. Why do you think they fell so hard for each other?"

Wilson looks incredulous. Cuddy gazes at the hospital grounds. Kate suddenly pokes her head out the door and says "With a few promises and lies, I managed to get my boss to agree. She'll need an offer letter for her files from you, Lisa."

Lisa nods. "When can you start?"

Kate thinks for a moment. "I need to go back to Seattle and get my personal affairs in order. I need to find a place to stay here. I'm going to need a few days to get settled in."

Wilson says "You can stay at my place."

Kate shakes her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I can't sleep on that crappy IKEA bed for the next three months. Besides, you're taking the first steps back into bachelorhood. I don't want to cramp your style."

Cuddy says "Then you can stay at my house. You already have a key. You can stay in the back bedroom that you like."

Kate slowly nods. "Ok. You'll let me help out with utilities and such, right?"

Cuddy agrees. "And I'll make room in the fridge for your groceries."

Kate says "Well, let me see when I can get a flight back to Seattle."

Cuddy says "The hospital will pay for your flight. I'll book a flight for you for tomorrow morning. In the meantime, get some rest. Or go through House's files in his office. Before you leave for Seattle, I want you to meet with House's staff."

Kate nods. "I think I'll check out the new office. Do you mind if we stay a bit longer, Wilson?"

"Of course not. I can finish up my patient files while you nose through his office."

Cuddy briskly says "Then I will go get that flight booked for late tomorrow morning. I'll bring by the boarding passes once I get them printed out."

Kate nods and heads for House's office. Wilson goes to his desk and opens a file and Cuddy heads for her office.

Cuddy settles in at her desk and books a flight to Seattle for Kate. The flight will leave at two pm from LaGuardia and arrive in Seattle around 7:30 pm. Once she has printed off the boarding passes, she goes to visit House.

House is flipping through his medical chart again. He looks up at Cuddy and says "I think it worked. I cranked the morphine down and while I have pain in my side and my neck, I don't have any pain in my leg."

Cuddy smiles in amazement. "House, that's great. Now listen to me, don't be doing anything stupid until you get used to walking with your right leg."

House makes a face. "Bullet wounds really don't make a person want to run laps around the ICU wing. Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything stupid to jeopardize this." Cuddy holds up the boarding passes. House raises an eyebrow "Oh darling, a romantic getaway for when I get better?"

Cuddy rolls her eyes. "Hardly. Kate agreed to cover your job for the next three months. This is her plane ticket home."

"Call me dumb, but how is she going to cover my job if you are sending her back to Seattle?"

"She needs to get her affairs in order. She'll be back in a few days."

"Where is she staying?"

"Kate is going to stay at my house. There is no point in her renting a place since she won't be here long enough for a short term lease."

House nods. "She doesn't need to be staying with Wilson. He'll try to bed and wed her if she stays at his place."

Cuddy closely studies him. "Why would that matter to you?"

"I don't want my best friend getting hurt by my ex-viper."

Cuddy's eyes narrow. "I don't want _my_best friend getting hurt by _your_ philandering best friend." House folds his arms across his chest and glares at Cuddy. She ignores his childish gesture and says "I will introduce your staff to their interim boss tomorrow morning. And keep in mind that I expect you to not interfere with her decisions while she is covering your job. Furthermore, if you decide you want to come back to work before your three months are up, you will only be allowed to work in the Clinic. She has made a commitment to three months and therefore I am making sure she has employment for the next three months."

House makes a face. "What if she asks for my help with a case?"

Cuddy laughs incredulously. "We will handle that bridge if and when we have to cross it."

House nods as if he is in agreement with what she has said. He asks "So, you are my attending physician now?"

"I am. Nobody else was willing to put up with you, well, except for Cameron, but I want her to focus on her job."

House looks past Cuddy to the hallway. She turns and sees that Cameron, Chase and Foreman are all standing there, looking into House's room. She beckons them into the room. Cameron comes in first, followed by Foreman and Chase. House says "Cuddy, I don't think you need them to diagnose a bullet wound."

Cuddy shakes her head. She glances over the ducklings and says "You can keep him entertained. I have things to do." Cuddy leaves the room.

Cameron speaks first. "How are you feeling?"

House puts his index finger upper to the corner of his mouth and gazes at the ceiling. "Hmmm. It kinds of feels like… hmmm… what is that called? Oh yeah! It feels like I've been shot!"

Chase rolls his eyes and Foreman laughs. Foreman says "I'm glad to see that sun-shiny personality wasn't affected."

House sarcastically says "Oh, you know me, Foreman. I just ooze sunshine and happiness everywhere I go."

Chase glances out in the hallway and then looks back at House. "Where's your ex?"

House innocently says "Stacy is here?"

Cameron pointedly says "No, your other ex. Kate."

House nods as though he is not surprised. "Ah, you found out. Have you all met her yet?"

Foreman says "Cameron is the only one who has met her so far. Chase saw her."

"House, how did you manage to hook up with someone that good looking?" Chase asks.

"What can I say? I have a way with the ladies." House gives Chase a dirty look. "Hey, wait, was that an insult?"

Chase shrugs and says "If the shoe fits…"

Foreman asks the million dollar question. "So, of all the people you could possibly ask for, why did you ask for you ex-wife?"

House replies "Didn't you see her? She's hot. Who wouldn't want to wake up to that?" Foreman gives him a dirty look. House continues "I see that you don't like that answer. Fine. I asked for her so she could run the show while I recover." The ducklings stare at House in shock. "What? She is a good doctor; almost as good as me. And I can trust her not to get the department shut down because she enjoys getting alimony checks from me."

Cameron asks "And she agreed to this?"

"Yup. I think Cuddy is planning on making formal introductions tomorrow. You have my permission to play all the pranks you want on the substitute teacher while I'm out. Putting tacks in her seat, answering to the wrong name, stealing her lunch, you name it; it's fair game."

The head nurse for the ICU pokes her head in and says "Dr. Cuddy said all visitors need to leave now so Dr. House can get some rest. You can come back in the morning."

The ducklings wordlessly file out of the room and head home.


	9. Chapter 9: Awkward

_**Author's Note:** I would have had this up awhile ago, but I was having issues to trying to upload new chapters. Still don't own _House_. Personally, this is not the most exciting chapter to me, but I think the next one is better._

* * *

**Chapter 9: Awkward**

Kate slowly drags herself out of the crappy Ikea bed at Wilson's apartment. She takes a quick shower and then double checks to make sure she packed her belongings. She brings her suitcase and laptop bag into the living room of the apartment. Wilson is cooking pancakes.

Kate sniffs and smiles. "Oh wow, are those apple cinnamon pancakes?"

Wilson says "They are." He sets a plate down on the kitchen bar. "Help yourself."

Kate sets her bags down and sits at the bar. She takes a bite of the pancakes and blissfully sighs. Once she is done chewing, she says "Oh my god, they're delicious. If you ever want to quit doctoring, I'll hire you as my cook. Granted, if I ate like this everyday, I would need to hire a personal trainer too."

Wilson sets his plate next to Kate's and turns the stove top off. He sits next to her and says "I'm flattered."

"You must not cook for your wives. I'd never divorce a man that cooks."

Wilson chuckles. "You just confirmed what I suspected: House never cooks."

Kate rolls her eyes as she chews. She then says "Oh please. Beanie Weenies are a challenge for the man. His idea of cooking is picking up the phone and calling for take out. Although, he can make a mean chili. That is about all he can cook."

Wilson says "If I remember correctly, you are a decent cook too."

"I suppose. But I hate cooking. Maybe if it wasn't just me I would enjoy it more. It just seems so tedious to cook for one."

They finish their breakfast. Kate insists upon doing the dishes while Wilson finishes getting ready for work. Kate is just putting away the last pan when Wilson emerges from his bedroom, ready to head to the hospital.

Wilson drives them to the hospital. He helps her bring her luggage to Cuddy's office. He gives her a quick hug and tells her that he will see her when she gets back from Seattle. He leaves Kate sitting in Cuddy's office.

Kate thumbs through some medical journals on the table next to the couch. Just as she starts to get overwhelmingly bored, Cuddy walks in.

"Good morning, Kate. You're here bright and early."

"I suppose. Do you have my boarding pass?"

Cuddy hands Kate some papers. "Have you been to House's office to meet his staff?"

"Nope. I wasn't sure if you wanted to be the one who did introductions."

Cuddy nods. "That would be probably be a good idea." She glances at her watch. "They ought to be here by now. Let's go get you introduced. You can leave your luggage here. I was going to drive you the airport."

Cuddy and Kate walk down to House's office. The ducklings have arrived for work. Cameron is diligently working on the mail pile, Chase is working a crossword puzzle, and Foreman is reading a journal article. The three young doctors look up when Cuddy leads Kate in the conference room.

Cuddy briskly says "This is Dr. Katherine Kowal. While House is recuperating, she will fill in for him and be your boss. She comes to us from the University of Washington Medical Center Rheumatology Clinic. Dr. Kowal, this is Dr. Eric Foreman, Dr. Robert Chase and Dr. Allison Cameron. I will leave it to you to get acquainted."

Kate smiles warmly at the ducklings. "Sounds good. What time are we leaving for the airport?"

Cuddy glances at her watch. "Meet me in my office at 10:45."

Kate cheerfully says "Will do." The four doctors watch Cuddy hurry off. Kate sits down at the head of the table and says "So, now that you know the bare minimum about me, let me learn the bare minimum about you. Who wants to start?"

Foreman pipes up. "My specialty is neurology."

Kate chuckles. "That was barely the minimum. What about you, Chase?"

"I'm an intensivist. And yes, I am originally from Australia."

Kate nods and looks to Cameron. Cameron says "I'm an immunologist."

Kate says "And I know all of you are very good at what you do. House wouldn't suffer fools willingly." She studies the ducklings for a moment. "Do you have any cases you are working on?"

Foreman shakes his head. "Not right now."

Kate nods. "We will need to drum up some business then." Chase casts a knowing look at Cameron. Kate sees the look but doesn't acknowledge it. "What questions do the three of you have for me?"

Chase asks the first question. "How long will House be gone?"

Kate shrugs. "I have no idea. Go look at his chart and talk to his attending. Next question."

Foreman asks the million dollar question. "Were you really married to House?"

Kate smirks. "I was. It built a lot of character. I'll leave it to you decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Chase snorts.

Cameron asks "Why did you get divorced?"

Kate shrugs and twirls the pen on the table in front of her. "We were making each other miserable. It just didn't work out. Now seriously, come up with a good question instead of trying to learn more about your boss' past."

Chase asks "Do we still have to do Clinic hours?"

Kate nods. "Yup. But you don't have to cover any of House's. Just do your normally assigned hours."

Cameron slightly glares at Foreman. "Can you approve journal submissions?"

Kate is curious about the glare but decides to ask about it later. "I can. And as an added bonus, I actually read them before I sign off." Kate catches the look Cameron shoots Foreman and watches him roll his eyes at her. "Is that seriously all the questions you guys have for me?"

The ducklings stare at her and she sighs as she stands up. "Ok, fine. I'm going to Seattle to take care of a few things and will be back in a few days. I expect to have some cases ready to go when I get back. Better yet, some cases in progress would be good too. Keep up with your clinic hours. If you have any journal submissions you want me to review, have them ready for me when I get back. If you don't have enough to do, go see Cuddy and she'll find you something to do. My cell phone is 206-555-7382. Call if you need anything. I need to go take care of a few things before I head out for Seattle."

Kate heads up to House's room. She looks in his room and sees that he is awake and playing Gameboy, so she walks in. He doesn't look up at her when she stops at his bedside, so she snatches the Gameboy from his hands.

"HEY! What are you doing!" House grabs for the Gameboy, but she steps away from the bed. She looks down at the game and pauses it. "Give it back!"

"Nope. We need to talk."

House shakes his head. "No, we don't." He grabs for the Gameboy again and Kate sets it on the side table, out of his reach. He groans in frustration. "Fine. What do you want?"

"You need to understand from that I'm not doing this because you want me to. I'm doing it to further my career and also so I can spend some time with some very good friends that I hardly ever get to see."

"Ok, fine whatever. Give me the Gameboy back."

Kate ignores his request and keeps talking. "I'm not going to hook back up with you and I'm not going to nurse you back to health."

House leers at her. "Are you sure you can resist me? I'm quite the sex machine, you know."

Kate snorts. "Right. Cripples are such a turn on for me. Especially, bitter, self-centered, pompous jackasses such as yourself."

"I knew you wanted me."

Kate gives House an earnest look. "Greg, I'm serious. Don't be entertaining ideas of us getting back together. Lisa told me what you did to Stacy Warner. It's not going to work on me."

House rolls his eyes at her. "Don't flatter yourself. I'd have to be out of my mind to want to get back together with you."

"You aren't known for your rational, logical behavior."

"And if I remember correctly, neither are you, Dr. Kowal."

They stare each other down. Neither one will look away. House makes a face at Kate. She continues to stare at him. He finally says "Ok, I will steer clear of you and you'll steer clear of me and everything will be copacetic."

Kate shakes her head. "Why do I feel like I am making a huge mistake?"

"Because you think too much. Pretty girls like you shouldn't fill their heads with big thoughts."

Kate hands him the Gameboy. "Wow, you must impress all the girls with that misogynic attitude."

House snatches the Gameboy from her hands. "Go away. I need to finish my physical therapy."

Kate laughs as she heads for the door. "Yup, it's important to keep those hand muscles strong when your personal skills keep you from getting laid."

House gets in one last word. "Oh Katie, that hurts!" Kate is out the door. House listens to her shoes click on the linoleum. He smiles to himself and then goes back to his game.


	10. Chapter 10: What went wrong

**Chapter 10: What went wrong**

Kate is listening to her iPod as the plane travels toward the east coast. She ignores the in-cabin movie and the passenger seated next to her. She glances at the passenger's tabloid and sees a headline decreeing "Angelina cheats on Brad! Baby not his!"

Kate sighs and turns her gaze to the window. She loses herself in memories.

_She had been home from the hospital for close to three months, but she hadn't been back to work yet. She had been going to physical therapy five times a week and was slowly but surely regaining her strength and ability to walk. She had been comatose for close to a month after the accident and then spent close to another month in the hospital trying to recover. Every time she was close to being discharged, she would develop some sort of complication, such as an infection or pneumonia. _

_The car accident broke her hip, collapsed her lung, broke several of her ribs, lacerated her liver and caused her to lose the baby. She had been 22 weeks along. They were going to have a son until the car accident took him away from them. She still cried at least once a day over her lost son. She spent most of her days practicing her physical therapy exercises and trying to forget about her son. She desperately wanted to return to work, but the pain from the slow-healing broken hip and the limited mobility prevented her from doing her job._

_Somehow, he had sustained very few injuries. The driver's side of the car took very little damage in the accident. He was devastated about losing his son. He treated her like she was a china doll, constantly telling her be sure she wasn't over-doing it. He returned to work within two weeks of the accident. _

_She wasn't angry at him anymore. At first, she could barely stomach the sight of him. When she woke up from her coma, he was anxiously waiting at her bedside. She asked how the baby was. His eyes filled with tears and he whispered "The baby is gone." She had commanded him to get out of her sight. He tried to protest and she proceeded to swear at him until she was in a frenzy and she had to be sedated. _

_She slowly began to forgive him as she realized the magnitude of his grief over the loss of his son. She never realized that he was capable of that sort of emotion and based on his newfound gentility towards her, she assumed he didn't realize he was capable of the sort of emotion either. There were no sarcastic remarks, no teasing, no joking: only concern for her well-being. He reserved his bitterness for the hospital staff and many of their friends. He was decent to Lisa and James. Lisa stopped in to visit Kate every chance she had and James had become a constant fixture in their home since he was between wives. _

_Before she left the hospital, he was already back at work. He worked long hours most of the time. At first, he worked the long hours so he could be at the hospital in case she needed him for anything. He dreaded going home to the empty house. As time wore on and their relationship became more strained after she came home, he worked the long hours to avoid her. Her depression and crying scared and alternately irritated him. She spent much of her time leaving him messages at work begging him to come home for a few hours so she could see him._

_While he worked late, James would come to the house to help her out. He often cooked for her and told her funny stories from the hospital. James told her how much her patients and co-workers missed her and how they prayed for her speedy recovery. James told her stories about Lisa and how the older doctors would say that Lisa was destined for greatness at the hospital. James told her stories about which nurses he had flirted with that day. If it hadn't been for James, she would have lost her mind during her convalescence._

_She would often ask to hear stories about her husband. James would claim he didn't know any stories about him. All James would say is that her husband was working hard and helping many patients. Then James would urge her to come back to work and she would politely demur. Frankly, she didn't want to see any of her patients. She didn't want them to pity her. She would think in the back of her mind _Stop being so proud_, but she still couldn't get past that feeling._

_Around the third month of being home, she woke up very early one morning to an empty bed. She sighed as she tried to remember the last time her husband had slept in their bed. She slowly made her way to the shower. After she showered, she got dressed and called her mother. Her mother welcomed the phone call and invited her to come visit for awhile. She told her mother she would think about it and get back to her. She picked up the phone and called him._

_Surprisingly, he was in his office. He sounded disoriented when he answered the phone, almost as if she had woken him up. She told him she was going to go visit her parents. He didn't argue. He said it would be good for her to get away for awhile. She asked if he could spend some time with her before she left and he claimed he was swamped with patients. She told him she missed him. He said he missed her too and then told her he had to go. He hung up before she could say goodbye._

_She drove to her mother's house and spent a few days there. She managed to catch him once on the phone. She told him she was staying until Sunday and he didn't issue a single complaint. But by Friday night, she had her fill of her mother's harping and nagging and decided she would go home a day early and surprise him._

_She left her mother's house well before the sun came up on Saturday morning and had made it back to Princeton by 9 am. She pulled up in the driveway and was pleased to see his new car parked there. She decided to leave her bags in the car for the time being and just head in to surprise him. She let herself in the house and quickly surmised that he wasn't downstairs. Since it was still pretty early, she assumed he was still in bed. She slowly and carefully navigated the stairs up to their bedroom._

_Kate slowly opened the bedroom door and stepped into the room. She took at step towards the bed when she realized there were two people in the bed: him and some woman. She gasped in horror. She went to the edge of the bed and yanked the blankets off, exposing their entwined nude bodies. They both woke up and the busty redhead said "Who the hell are you?"_

_She felt her knees shake as she coldly said "I am his wife." Her cold gaze met his eyes._

_He looked away, but not before she saw the guilt etched on his face. She turned to the red head and said "You have exactly two minutes to get the hell out of my house. Then I am going to get my gun." The red head scrambles out of the bed and grabs her clothing and bolts for the door. She heard the front door slam. He pulled on some boxers and is staring at her with trepidation. She said "You weren't working late, were you?"_

"_No, not really."_

"_This is why Jimmy couldn't ever tell me what you were up to?"_

_He traced a circle on the floor with his right foot. "I think he only suspected. I never told him about her."_

"_Why?" Her voice cracked on the question. She angrily brushed away the tears that fell from her eyes._

"_You pushed me away. I lost a child too, not just you. I know you are hurting, but every time I tried to comfort you, you shoved me away and built up a cocoon around yourself. The only person you let in anymore is Wilson. You don't even confide in your best friend anymore!" _

"_So it is my fault you are a whore?" _

"_No… I don't know. We have both been through a terrible tragedy. I am still the same person but you… You have changed. You sit around and cry all the time. You are thin as a rail. You never eat. You hide in this damn house all the time. You don't have a sense of humor anymore! You have no interest in me anymore! It's like all you do is sit around and wait to die! As far as I am concerned, my wife—the woman I love—died in that car accident along with my unborn son!"_

_She straightened her spine with each accusation he flung at her. She walked up to him until she was inches from him. She looked up at his icy sapphire eyes. He gazed down at the hard emerald eyes. "If the woman you loved died in the car accident along with your son, you have yourself to blame. You murdered them both." He tried to flinch away from her accusation, but she grabbed his chin in her hand and forced him to look at her. "Tell me: does it feel the same when you wantonly kill those you love as it does when you kill a patient? Or does it hurt a bit worse?"_

"_Dammit Kat—" He jerked away from her grasp._

_She bitterly laughed at him. "You have destroyed my life. You killed my son, you nearly killed me. I am in pain all the time and I can barely walk. I certainly can't work because there is no way for me to do my rounds. And now, you have destroyed our marriage by sleeping with that red-headed tart." Her laugh is tinged with hysteria. "Now, I am going to do everything in my power to make you pay. I will take everything I can from you. I regret that the only thing I can't take from you is your ability to walk. And that I can't give you the pain I have. I can only pray that you will go through what I have: the pain, the disability and the betrayal by the one you love."_

_She hobbled back down to her car and never returned._

Kate shakes herself from her memories as the stewardess instructs the passengers to secure their trays in the upright position in preparation for landing. She obediently closes her tray and sighs as the plane begins its descent.


	11. Chapter 11: Girl talk

_**Author's note**: I apologize in advance, the document manager upload tool is wonky and I had to upload in an alternate file format. During the upload, all punctuation at the end of each paragraph was lost. I believe I corrected everything now. Thanks for reading!_

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**Chapter 11: Girl talk**

A week has passed. Kate has settled her business in Seattle. One of her neighbors and close friends has agreed to keep an eye on her house. Kate has put in a request to have her mail forwarded. She has arranged for her regular patients to see other doctors in her absence. She has shipped some clothing and a few personal effects to Cuddy's house. Kate's flight touches down at Newark. She is traveling lightly; she has only her laptop case and a purse. Since she doesn't need to go to baggage claim, she heads straight to the rental car counter. She picks up her rental car and then heads for Princeton. The drive passes quickly for Kate. Since it is late, she heads straight to Cuddy's house. She pulls into the driveway and puts the vehicle in park. She gets out and heads to the front door. She realizes that she doesn't have a key to the house, so she knocks on the front door. After a few moments, Cuddy opens the door.

Cuddy grins. "Have a good flight?"

Kate shrugs her shoulders. "I suppose. The flight from Seattle to here sucks. Did my stuff get here?"

Cuddy ushers Kate into the house and closes the door behind her. "It did. I put it in your room. Have you eaten dinner?"

Kate shakes her head. "No. I figured I would just run out and get something."

Cuddy says "Don't bother. I haven't eaten either. I will just order pizza. Look, you know your way around the house. Your stuff is in the room you always stay in. Get settled in while I order pizza, ok?"

"Sounds like a plan. I am going to go change and wash up some. I feel all icky and stale from being on the plane." Kate goes back to her bedroom. It is her favorite room in Cuddy's house. The bedroom has French doors that open to the lushly landscaped backyard. There is a generous full bathroom attached to the room. Kate has spent many an hour on the comfortable bed. Kate sees the boxes she had shipped sitting on the floor in the corner. She grabs the box labeled "bathroom" and opens it. She removes her toiletries and bathrobe and puts them in the bathroom. She pulls her hair back into a ponytail and then scrubs her face free of all makeup. After she finishes washing up, she kicks off her shoes. She starts emptying the boxes and putting things in the closet and dresser. Cuddy knocks on the door and Kate gestures at her to come in. Cuddy flops on the bed and watches Kate put her things away.

Cuddy says "If you want, we can move the desk from the other bedroom in here so you can have a workspace."

"I'm not too worried about that tonight. I just want to get the majority of my things unpacked. We can move the desk later. So, did anything exciting happen this week?"

Cuddy shakes her head. "No, it was pretty quiet. We moved House out of ICU. We'll probably send him home in a few more days."

"So, did the ketamine work?"

Cuddy frowns. "Somewhat. It didn't work as well as we hoped. He still has some pain, but he claims it isn't as bad as it was."

Kate nods. "Is he in physical therapy?"

"He is, but I doubt he'll stick with it."

Kate laughs. "Why does that not surprise me? How are the gunshot wounds?"

"They are healing nicely. You know, he would be the last to admit it, but the PT is helping him walk better. He isn't leaning as heavily on the cane as he used to. I doubt he will ever be rid of the cane completely, but he may not need it so desperately. Before the shooting, I was worried he was going to need a walker soon. The cane wasn't providing the stability he needed."

"Is he still his usual ray of sunshine?"

Cuddy laughs. "Of course. He has insulted every nurse in ICU and most of the nurses in the general wing. Wilson said he heard a few of the nurses contemplating holding a pillow over his face while he is asleep."

Kate finishes hanging clothes in the closet and snorts. "Some things never change."

Cuddy plainly says "I'll never understand what you saw in him."

Kate shrugs and says "I have a weakness for musicians."

"Oh please. You didn't know he was a musician until a few months into your relationship with him."

"Honestly, it was his eyes that suckered me in. And his butt. Remember how well he filled out a pair of pants when he was playing lacrosse?" Kate's face softens as she remembers House in his younger days. "And I can't lie: I was absolutely fascinated by his standoffishness. It was always a battle with him. He challenged me on every little thing. It was exciting." Kate sits on the bed next to Cuddy. "And when I found out he was a doctor, I was even more attracted to him. He was smart, witty, athletic and musically talented. He spoke foreign languages. If you could get past the sarcasm, he was a dream date. And let's face it, Lisa, I was just as bitterly sarcastic as he was when I met him."

Cuddy denies it. "You were never as bitter as he was."

Kate shakes her head. "I was, but I knew how to hide it and I did hide it. Greg's form of sarcasm is acceptable because he is a man. Women can't get away with being that way. Greg is called a bastard, but a smart one. He gets a sort of respect because of it. I mean, sure, plenty of people hate him, but if I acted like he did, I'd be branded as a vindictive, evil bitch and everyone would hate me more than they hated him. Stupid double standards."

"Do you ever wonder what would have happened if the car accident didn't happen."

Kate's look becomes distant. She stands up and briskly works on putting clothes in the dresser. "No, I don't.  
"  
Cuddy sits up. "Kate, I'm sorry. I didn't."

Kate interrupts her. "I know. It's ok. And I'm lying. I have thought about it many times. I wonder what our son would have been like. I wonder if we would've had more kids. I wonder if he would've still cheated on me someday. I wonder if I would've found something else to shut him out for. I wonder how I would've handled his infarction. I wonder how our son would've reacted to his father turning into what he is today. But you know, Lisa, I realized a long time ago that everything happens for a reason to get us to where we are today. And I am pretty happy with the person I have become. I am successful and respect in my field and I enjoy my job. Greg asked me here for a reason and I admit I am damn curious about the reason. That is why I am here now."

Cuddy nods. "Just watch out for your state of mind. I told you what he did to Stacy. I don't want to watch him play with your mind."

Kate says "He can try to play with my mind, but he will be up for a fight every inch of the way. I learned how to play mind games from the master: him."


	12. Chapter 12: Going home

**Chapter 12: Going home**

Cuddy signs House's release orders. He is sitting on the edge of his bed, dressed in his usual blue jeans and rock band t-shirt. He aimlessly twirls his cane while Cuddy lectures him.

"You need to continue going to physical therapy. If you don't continue with your PT regimen, you won't be able to return to work and I will add an hour of Clinic duty for every PT hour you skip. Be sure that you finish your antibiotics and keep to the prescribed level of Vicodin. And I want you back in a week so I can remove the stitches—no doing it yourself. "

House rolls his eyes. "Are you going to spank me if I don't do what you say?"

Cuddy fixes a firm stare on House and says "I am serious. You have to play by my rules if you want to come back to work. And I know you don't want to work, but you will miss out on antagonizing everyone, and you know it."

Wilson ambles into the room. He is pushing a wheelchair. House flashes Wilson a hateful look and pointedly says "I am not riding in that thing."

Wilson sighs. "I am thrilled to see you too."

Cuddy snatches the cane away from House and says "Hospital policy: you are riding in the wheelchair to the front door. After that, I don't care if you do the meringue down the sidewalk, but until you are to the front door, it is the wheelchair for you."

House shakes his head and reaches out for his cane. "I am not riding in that thing. Forget it."

Wilson knowingly nods at Cuddy. "Looks like Kate is going to win the bet." She smiles and nods.

House's eyes narrow and he looks accusingly from Wilson to Cuddy. "What bet?"

Wilson shrugs and says in an innocent tone "Oh, it's nothing. Just a little bet between the three of us."

Cuddy sighs "I am going to be out 500 bucks to her."

House frowns. "What did you bet on?"

Wilson lightly says "That you would refuse to ride in the wheelchair. Kate said you wouldn't get in it at all, and it looks like she may be right."

House straightens his shoulders. "Wheel that thing over here." Wilson pushes the wheelchair next to the bed and House carefully gets in it. He grimly says "We are taking the scenic route past my office so she can see me in the wheelchair. I will be damned if she is going to win."

Cuddy hands House the discharge papers and Wilson the cane. "If you need anything, give me a call, ok?"

House impatiently waves her off. "I promise to call if I can't get the escort service to send someone."

Wilson shakes his head and wheels House into the hallway. Wilson glances back at Cuddy quickly and catches her huge grin. Wilson winks at her and then heads for House's office.

House grumbles about the crappy hospital food and grouchy nurses and how it is about time Cuddy let him go home. As they get close to House's office he barks "Slow down" to Wilson. They both peer into the conference room, where Kate is standing at the whiteboard and leading a discussion. The ducklings all have their attention focused on her. She spies House in the wheelchair. She waves at him and starts to laugh.

Wilson chuckles in spite of himself. House glares at Kate and asks Wilson "Why is she laughing? She just lost the bet."

Wilson quickly pushes House away from the office and into the open elevator. House pushes the first floor button. Wilson finally says "It was her idea to tell you there was a bet about you refusing to ride out in the wheelchair. She said if we told you she had betted against you, you'd do whatever it took to ensure she wouldn't win the bet. I must admit, I was skeptical, but Cuddy thought it was a great idea."

House doesn't say a word. Wilson immediately realizes House is pissed off. Wilson wisely dose not say anything else. Once the elevator reaches the first floor, Wilson pushes House to the front door. At the front door, he offers the cane to House. He snatches it away from Wilson and curtly says "You can push me all the way to your car."

Wilson hides his smirk and heads out to his car. At the car, House gingerly balances himself on his cane and then quickly gets into Wilson's car. Wilson leaves the wheelchair in the empty parking space next to his car and climbs into the driver's seat. He starts the engine and looks over at House. "Ready to go home?"

House says "Want to go get a drink instead?"

Wilson sighs. "I'm not taking you to a bar."

House shrugs and says "Fine. Take me home then, Saint Jimmy." House reaches over to the radio and flips on the classic rock station. He cranks the radio up and gives Wilson a menacing look that Wilson interprets as "Don't touch that radio."

Wilson drives to House's apartment. They don't speak during the ride; the volume of the radio discourages any efforts at conversation. Once they get to House's place, Wilson kills the engine. "Come on, let's head in."

House throws open the car door and gets out. He heads to the front door of his apartment and unlocks it while Wilson closes the passenger door on the car. Wilson follows House into the apartment. House kicks aside the mail that has piled up under the mail slot. He glances around and asks "Where's Steve McQueen?"

"Cameron took him to the hospital to feed him while you were there. I'll ask her to bring him back tomorrow."

House asks "Can't you bring him back instead? I don't want to have to deal with Cameron's outpouring of emotion about me nearly dying. Again. I have heard her spiel 50 times already and while it was novel and interesting the first 49 times, it lost its appeal the last time."

"I'll see what I can do." Wilson picks up the pile of mail and places it on House's desk. "Do you need me to run to the store and get anything for you?"

House opens his liquor cabinet and pulls out a bottle of Glenlivet. "Nope. I have everything I need here. Go get me a glass and ice." House settles himself on the couch and places the bottle on the table. He picks of the remote control and turns the television on. He immediately navigates to the Tivo recording queue.

Wilson laughs incredulously. "Are you going to just sit around and get drunk until Cuddy lets you come back to work?"

House pretends to ponder the question and says "Yup. Got a problem with that?"

"You can't sit here and drink the next few months away!"

House says "Well, I'm sure I'll be sober every now and then. The escort service won't send anyone out if you sound too drunk over the phone."

Wilson grabs the bottle of scotch and says "No. You aren't getting drunk today." He stomps into the kitchen and dumps the scotch down the drain. He throws the bottle away and then opens the refrigerator. It is barren. Wilson shakes his head and walks back into the living room. "After work, I'll stop by with groceries. If you think of anything you need, call me."

House makes a face at Wilson. "I need another bottle of scotch, you idiot. That was the last bottle I had."

Wilson mutters good-bye and stomps out of the apartment. House sighs and selects _The New Yankee Workshop_ to watch.


	13. Chapter 13: Not the momma

_**Author's Note**: Thanks for the kind reviews. I have been busy and not able to write as much as I would like. Thanks to those of you who keep reading. _

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**Chapter 13: Not the momma**

Kate is sitting in the cafeteria with Wilson, sympathetically listening to Wilson rant on about House. She is picking at her wilted spinach salad and finally pushes the plate away from her. Wilson stops to catch his breath after close to 10 continuous minutes of complaining. Kate takes the opportunity to offer some advice.

"You know, Jimmy, Greg has you completely whipped."

Wilson's warm brown eyes nearly bug out of his head. "He does not have me whipped!"

Kate earnestly nods. "Of course he does. You are tending to him like you are his momma. He treats you like a doormat. You deserve better."

Wilson considers what she says. He seems to be poised to agree, but then says "But he's my best friend."

"I know he is your best friend. But you're acting like you're his mother. You shouldn't have to do that."

"If I leave him to his own devices, he'll drink for the next three months."

Kate shakes her head. "He'll drink for about a month and then get bored with it. He doesn't have the attention span or devotion to make an effective alcoholic."

"Well, that may be true, but he has no food in the apartment. But I really don't want to go over there tonight and deal with him."

Kate asks "Do you want me to go pick a few things up for him and bring them over tonight? That way you can have a break from him. Face it, you have spent every evening with him since he woke up from his coma. You are getting burnt out. Go out and have a nice dinner with Lisa or some cute nurse from the pediatric wing. I will baby-sit Greg tonight so you can have a break."

Wilson skeptically says "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

Kate shrugs. "For you, sure. For me or Greg, not so much. I'm doing this for your mental health, not his and certainly not mine."

"Do you promise not to smother him with a pillow?"

Kate laughs and hold up three fingers in the Girl Scout pledge. "I promise." She puts her hand down and adds "But I can't promise I won't do something else to him." Wilson gets a troubled look on his face and Kate laughs harder. "Ok, ok. I promise not to kill Greg off tonight."

Wilson nods. "Ok. Then I will take you up on your offer. Oh, yeah. He asked that I bring Steve McQueen home tonight."

Kate looks confused. "Um, you do know that Steve McQueen has been dead for over 25 years, right?"

"He has a pet rat that he named Steve McQueen. Cameron had brought the rat to the hospital shortly after House was hospitalized so she could keep and eye on it and feed it."

Kate sighs. "Ok, I'll bring him his pet rat. Anything else I need to know?"

"I can't think of anything."

The afternoon passes quickly. Kate is getting along well with the ducklings. She is sitting in the conference room catching up on House's delinquent files. Chase is in the clinic and Foreman is tending to their current patient. Cameron is pouring over the patient's latest lab results. Kate glances at her watch. She sees that it is 5pm and she stretches and says to Cameron "Did anything show up in that latest round of tests?"

Cameron shakes her head. "No, everything is still the same. No improvement but he's not getting worse either."

"Let's keep him on the current round of meds then and retest in the morning. I am going to head out for the evening. Page me if anything changes or you need anything."

Cameron nods. "I will."

Kate stands up and smiles at Cameron. "This is going to sound insane, but where is Steve McQueen? Wilson asked me to bring him the rat."

Cameron smiles slightly. "He is probably going to bring Steve back to House." Cameron stands up and leads Kate into House's office. The two women walk over to the bookshelf where Steve's cage is. "There he is, the infamous Steve McQueen." Steve is running in his exercise wheel. He pauses a moment to peer at the women. The rat derisively sniffs at the women and goes back to running.

Kate laughs. "When I was married to House, we had a cat named Burt Reynolds. House picked the name. Burt was a good cat."

Cameron sneaks a glance at the nostalgic look on Kate's face. "What happened to the cat?"

Kate sighs. "He passed away a few years ago from old age."

Cameron has a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm sorry."

Kate shrugs. "Eh, he had a good run. He was possibly the most interesting cat I ever met. House doesn't go for boring pets with no personality."

Cameron ever-so-slightly changes the subject. "I never though of House as a cat person."

Kate laughs. "He wasn't. I came home with a cat one night. I am a sucker for animals. A lady was giving away kittens at the grocery store and I came home with one. I'm pretty sure the only reason House agreed to keeping the cat was that he found the cat interesting."

Cameron goes for the million dollar question. "What was House like then?"

Kate smiles at her. "Pretty much the same way he is now. Well, maybe not quite as sarcastic all the time, but I think he was a lot more active then and it ate up some of the spare energy. I think now he focuses that energy into being a bastard. He was handsome, talented, athletic, smart, witty, sarcastic, successful and well-traveled. Being with him made me feel alive; invincible."

"Then why'd you get divorced?" Cameron's eyes search Kate's face for some unspoken answer.

Kate doesn't feel so chatty anymore. She stiffly says "People change." Kate grabs her jacket and pulls it on. She picks up the cage. "Oh well, you have a good night, Dr. Cameron. Remember, page me if you need me. I won't rip your head off for paging me, unlike some people I know."

Cameron nods, accepting that she pushed for too much information. "Ok. See you tomorrow." She watches Kate walk to the elevator with Steve McQueen in tow.


	14. Chapter 14: The three bears

**Chapter 14: The three bears**

Kate gathers her purse and coat and heads out to her car. She secures Steve's cage in the backseat and heads out to the grocery store. She picks up some essentials for House and then swings by the liquor store and picks up a bottle of Glenlivet. After she is done shopping, she heads to the address Wilson gave her for House's place. She parks in the street in front of his building. She tucks the scotch into one of the grocery bags. Then she grabs her purse, the two grocery bags and Steve McQueen's cage. She locks up the car and then goes to the apartment door and bangs on it. There is no response, so she sharply raps on the door again. She can hear House faintly grumbling, so she bangs on the door one more time. She is rewarded with him yelling "I'm coming, Wilson!"

The door opens and House's jaw drops when he sees Kate on his doorstep, juggling grocery bags and Steve McQueen. She rolls her eyes and thrusts the cage at him as she says "Are you going to let me in?"

House takes the cage and steps aside to let Kate in the apartment. He pokes his head out the door and looks around as he says "Am I on _Candid Camera_? Or is Ashton Kutcher going to jump out to "punk" me?"

Kate says from the kitchen "Nope, it's just me. Wilson had something come up and asked me to drop off your groceries and your small furry friend."

House slams the door. He puts Steve McQueen's cage in its normal spot. "So, Cameron has been feeding Steve?"

Kate walks into the living room with two glasses of scotch on the rocks. She hands one to him and says "So she claims. He looks pretty healthy and happy."

House tilts his head in acknowledgement as he takes the drink. "Wilson didn't tell you to get scotch."

Kate smirks. "No, he didn't. But he did tell me he dumped your bottle out, so I graciously bought you another one." She swirls the scotch and the ice cubes clink against the glass. "What shall we drink to?"

House thinks for a moment and says "Wilson. For sending my ex-wife who has enough sense to bring booze with her." Kate and House clink glasses and sip their drinks. House gestures at the couch with his cane. "Have a seat, unless you are going to cook something with those groceries your brought with you."

Kate sits on the couch and says "I haven't decided if I can put up with you long enough to stay for dinner. And I am certainly not cooking a dinner that I am not going to have the chance to eat." She sips her drink and watches him sit on the couch. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was shot awhile ago."

"No kidding! Hard to believe someone would shoot you." Kate rolls her eyes at him.

He smirks at her. "How was your first day on the job?"

"I enjoyed it. It will be a pleasant diversion for the next few months."

"Cuddy must not have given you any Clinic duty."

Kate laughs. "She certainly did not."

"And isn't she expecting you home? Mommy'll be worried about you, Goldilocks. And I am certain she will not approve of you visiting the Big Bad Wolf."

Kate shrugs. "You are confusing your fairy tales. Goldilocks has three bears."

Greg knocks back the rest of his scotch and says "True. I guess that makes me, Wilson and Cuddy the three bears then."

Kate stands up as she finishes her drink. She goes to the kitchen and returns with the bottle of scotch. House holds out his glass and she refills it and then her own. "How'd you figure that?"

"Well, think about it. I'd be Papa Bear: everything is too hard or too hot; too much. Wilson would be Momma Bear: too soft. For you, Cuddy is Baby Bear: just right. And you, you'd be Goldilocks. The naïve, blond girl who breaks into the Bear home and starts going through their things like she is some sort of stalker. She uses them for the food and chairs and beds and then tries to cry her way out of trouble in the end."

Kate visibly stiffens. She says "Maybe you were right on with the Big Bad Wolf analogy for yourself. You devour people and break people's hearts and then leave a mess behind for someone else to clean up."

Greg and Kate stare each other down. Greg finally says "Well, I see you haven't forgiven me yet."

Kate bitterly says "Why should I? You never even apologized." She sets her glass on the coffee table and stands up. "This was an incredibly bad idea. Do you have any demands I should forward to Wilson?"

"Oh come on, don't tell me you are going to quit this quickly. I've got many more insults to deliver to you."

Kate stares at him. She knows she is letting him get under her skin much too easily. She takes a deep breath and says "I promised Wilson I wouldn't kill you tonight."

Greg winks at her and says "Promises are made to be broken. May I suggest you give me a heart attack from a wild romp in bed?"

Kate guffaws. "The only crime of passion you will get out of me is multiple stab wounds." She picks up her drink and heads to the kitchen. "You do at least have simple cooking tools, like a skillet, right?"

"I'm not a heathen. Of course I have a skillet. And a stock pot. And that's about it."

Greg hears Kate mumble something about single men and poorly stocked kitchens. He is about to make another snide remark when the phone rings. Greg picks up the cordless handset and glances at the caller ID screen. He sighs and answers it. "Hi Mom."

"How are you doing, sweetheart? This is your first day home, right?"

"It is. I am doing ok."

"Good. I am going to come down and stay with you a few days since you forbid me from coming to the hospital."

House gets a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Mom, there is no need for you to come. I am supposed to be getting rest and I am."

His mother protests. "But who is taking care of you? Who is cooking for your and keeping the apartment up?"

House watches Kate move around in the kitchen. "People from the hospital are helping me out. One of the women from the hospital is cooking me dinner as we speak."

"Oh, is it that lovely young woman who works for you?"

"Dr. Cameron? No, it's not her."

"Oh, it must be your boss then? Um, I think her name is Dr. Cuddy?"

"No, and I told you, Mom: she prefers to go by Party Pants."

Blythe chuckles at her son's irreverence. She then asks in a hopeful tone: "Are you dating someone? What's her name?"

House sighs. "Mom, it's Kate." The line is silent for close to a minute. He finally says "Mom, are you still there?"

"Kate as in Katherine your ex-wife Kate?"

House is still watching Kate move around the kitchen. "Right."

"Why is _she_ there?"

"I asked her to come." Blythe coughs harshly. Greg asks "Are you ok, Mom?"

"Sorry, I choked. Greg, is the world as I know it ending? You asked for your ex-wife to come tend to you?"

"In my defense, I was in shock and on the verge of a coma when I asked for her."

"She broke your heart!"

"Mom, she did not."

"She did! You were never the same after the divorce. You became bitter. She is going to do it again if you let her back in to your life."

"Mom, you know we were both wrong. Now look, you have completely changed the subject on me. There is no need for you to come out to Princeton. Wilson is helping me out and I'll be fine."

"And how long is Kate helping you out?"

"Just tonight. Wilson had to take care of some personal stuff."

Suddenly, John House's voice booms across the line. "Your ex-wife is there? Have you apologized to her for breaking her heart yet?"

"Hello, Dad. Why yes, I'm healing nicely and it's great to hear from you too."

John ignores Greg's sarcasm. "Kate was the best thing that ever happened to you and you destroyed it."

Blythe interrupts. "John, she has a role in the failure of their marriage, too."

Greg interrupts them both. "Look, there isn't going to be a reconciliation. I asked for her to come to cover my department while I recuperate. She is doing a very big favor for Wilson, who is a good friend of hers. Nothing more, nothing less."

Blythe sighs. "Ok, Greg. Look, you finish talking to your father. Ok? I love you."

Greg smothers his groan. "Ok, mom. I love you too. Bye." He hears Blythe hang up her extension.

John says "Your mother and I are coming out at the end of the week. We will visit for the weekend and then leave you be. I told your mother you don't need us, but she won't listen to reason. So you will suck it up and deal with it. We will come out to your apartment after our flight lands on Friday."

"Fine, Dad. Whatever will make Mom happy."

"You listen to me son: don't hurt Kate anymore than you already have. She is a good woman. I don't harbor any false illusions about you two reconciling, but she doesn't deserve any more crap from you. Do you understand me?"

"Kate is a big girl now. She can fight her own battles now. Don't worry about her. Look, my dinner is ready and she is getting annoyed with me. I'll see you on Friday. Good-bye." Greg hangs up the phone. He grabs his cane and makes his way to the kitchen. He leans against the door frame and watches as Kate serves up some pasta and vegetable concoction. "My dad sends his regards."

Kate glances up and smiles. "I always liked your dad." She sets a plate for Greg on the butcher's block next to some silverware. "Your mom doesn't send her regards?"

"I'm sure she does."

Kate shrugs and sets her plate on the counter. "Yeah, I wouldn't expect her to be enthusiastic about me being here."

Greg takes a bite of the pasta. "This is good, even in light of the vegetables that weren't so discreetly added to it."

They eat in relative silence. Once they have finished, Kate tells Greg to go sit down while she washes dishes. He retreats to the living room. Kate hears the television turn on. She hums to herself while she washes the dishes. Once she has finished, she dries her hands and heads out to the living room. She grabs her coat and puts it on.

Greg looks at her. "What, you are leaving already? I haven't had much of a chance to insult you yet."

"My work here is done. You have been fed and watered, so to speak. I'm going home and relaxing."

"I think you are too scared to stay any longer."

Kate shakes her head. "I'm older and wiser now. That doesn't work on me anymore."

"Well, thanks for the scotch then."

"Don't drink it all at once. I'm not bringing you another bottle."

"Then I will be sure to hide it from Wilson."

They stare at each other for several long seconds. Kate sadly smirks and says "It's always going to be awkward between us, isn't it?"

Greg shrugs. "I really don't know."

Kate nods. "Me neither. Good-night." She lets herself out.

Greg watches the door close and he murmurs "Sweet dreams, Goldilocks."


	15. Chapter 15: Social skills

_**Author's Note**: As always, thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate them, even if I am always a bit anxious whenI see there is a new review waiting for me to read. I've been busy lately and not writing as much, but hopefully I will be having more time to write soon._

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**Chapter 15: Social skills**

Kate's transition has been smooth at the hospital. She has a predictable schedule: every morning she is up by 6am for a three mile run. When she's done. she returns to Cuddy's house to shower. Then she has a light breakfast and surfs the internet for news and weather. As she is cleaning up her breakfast dishes, Cuddy is just waking up for her morning run. They usually chat for a few moments while Cuddy stretches. Once Cuddy leaves, Kate gets dressed and then heads to the hospital.

Kate arrives at the hospital close to an hour before Cameron does. Kate spends that hour catching up on her work email from Seattle. Once Cameron arrives at the office, they go through the mail together and answer it. Cameron was slightly uncomfortable with Kate helping at first, but she now appreciates the help since mail duty takes her about half the time it used to. Kate encourages Cameron to use her new-found time to catch up on journal articles or to work on her article. On mornings that there is little mail, Kate will read and critique Cameron's journal article draft.

Once Foreman and Chase arrive, they discuss any open cases or work on a new case. While Kate's interaction style isn't nearly as abrasive as House's, she still challenges the ducklings and argues their suggestions. The ducklings get along well with her and have yet to utter anything about missing House.

Kate usually has lunch with Wilson in the cafeteria, and if Cuddy isn't too busy, she will join them. Several of the other doctors tease Wilson about his new "best friend". Wilson takes the teasing in stride and admits that Kate is easier on the eyes than House.

Kate has been working for close to three weeks without any problems. She is sitting at House's desk, reviewing medical files for a current patient while listening to her iPod. Chase is in the clinic working his hours, Cameron is in the lab running tests and Foreman is monitoring their patient.

House is wandering the halls of PPTH after his first on-site physical therapy session. Cuddy and Wilson had arranged for him to have the first few session at his home. House is cranky and aching from the exercises that he was forced to endure the session. He is looking for Wilson to complain to, but Wilson is not in his office. House is walking past his office to the elevator when he realizes Kate is alone in his office. He quietly opens the door and walks into the office. Kate doesn't hear him since she is listening to the iPod earbuds. House smacks the desk with his cane and Kate falls out of the chair and hits the floor with a thump.

House laughs. He knows he should be hurrying to the elevator before Kate gets up, but he is clutching his side laughing. Kate yanks the earbuds out of her ears and pulls herself up. She gives House a dirty look and then slugs him in the arm. "You asshole! That wasn't funny!"

House snickers and rubs the spot on his arm that she hit. "Ow! You can't walk around hitting cripples."

"What do you want?"

House sits in his desk chair. "You looked lonely." He starts to thumb through the file on the desk. Kate snatches the file away. "I was looking at that."

Kate closes the file and tucks it under her arm. "You're on leave. You aren't supposed to be looking at that. What are you doing here anyways?"

House picks up the tennis ball on the desk and starts tossing it in the air. "I just finished my PT and I'm looking for Wilson so he can drive me home."

Kate grabs the tennis ball in mid-air. "And as you can see, he isn't in here. So move along."

House incredulously says "You're kicking me out of my own office?"

Kate nods. "Yup. Go wait in Wilson's office. I'm busy."

"I could help you out with that case."

Kate laughs at him. "First of all, I don't need your help with this. Secondly, you never want to do any actual work, so I know you really just want to irritate me. Which won't work, because I am already irritated with you. So, consider your mission accomplished and go wait in Wilson's office."

House stands up and moves in front of Kate, blocking her from going back to the desk. He stares down at her and says "Well, if you don't need help with the case, I assume it's too simple for me to bother with."

Kate smirks. "Are you accusing me of taking on easy cases, Dr. House?"

"Are you?"

"Nope."

"Prove it. Let me see the case file."

"Nope." Kate stares up at House. He puts on his meanest look, but she isn't swayed. They finally break the stare to look at Cameron, who is standing in the doorway and clearing her throat.

Cameron asks "Am I interrupting something here?"

"Nope. I was just reminding Dr. House that he is on a leave of absence and does not have to worry about looking at case files."

Cameron slightly smiles at House. He spies some papers in her hands and demands "What are those? Lab results? Let me see them." Cameron's smile falters.

Kate interjects "Dr. Cameron, do not give him those lab results."

House steps towards Cameron and says "Cameron, I'm your boss. Give me those results." Cameron looks as though she is about to waver when Kate jumps between House and Cameron and places a restraining hand on House's chest. She turns to Cameron and holds her hand out.

"Dr. Cameron, I'm currently your boss and he is not. If you give him those results, I'll suspend you for a week with no pay. Now give me the lab results, please."

Cameron blinks in surprise. She looks from House's stern look to Kate's firm look. She is torn about who to give the lab results to. She is saved from making a decision but Cuddy walking in.

Cuddy shakes her head and asks "What the hell is going on here? House, I told you to stay out of this office while you're on your leave of absence. And I don't even want to know why you are shoving House away, Kowal."

Kate holds her ground. "Give me those lab results, Cameron."

House says "Give them to me. I'll let her see them when I'm done."

Cuddy sighs in exasperation and snatches the lab file out of Cameron's hand. She says "Dr. Cameron, go back to whatever you are working on while I deal with these two."

Cameron quickly hurries out of the lab and down the hall. Once she leaves, Cuddy turns on the two doctors in front of her. "House! What did I tell you? No butting in while Kate is in charge. If you're feeling that much better, you can go work down in the Clinic and start making up some of the hours you owe me. And Kate! You're the last person I expected to be shoving House around! Did you forget he's recuperating from gunshot wounds? The last thing I need is for him to re-injure himself and not be able to work when your time is up here!"

House and Kate both start complaining to Cuddy about the other one at the same time. They are trying to talk over each other. Cuddy holds up her hand and shouts "ENOUGH!" House and Kate fall silent. "Ok, House, you first."

House sticks his tongue out at Kate and then launches into his tale of woe. "Cuddy, she's being a big meanie. All I wanted was to look at the file and see what kind of cases they're working on, but she wouldn't let me see it. And then she told Cameron that she would suspend her for a week with no pay if she gave me the lab results for they case they're working on."

Cuddy sighs. "Finished?" House nods. Cuddy looks at Kate.

Kate calmly says "He conveniently left out the part about how he snuck up on me while I was listening to my iPod and scared me so badly that I fell out of the desk chair. I told him he could not see the file because he is on leave and there was no reason for him to see the file. When Dr. Cameron came in to show me the lab results, he demanded to see them and I said no. I reminded Dr. Cameron that I am her boss right now and not him. He made a move as though he was going to grab the results from her, so I got between him and her and shoved him out of the way."

Cuddy looks at them. She says "House, I know you are waiting on Wilson to give you a ride home. He had an emergency with a patient and wanted me to let you know that you could wait in his office and he would be back as soon as he can. Go to his office now." House starts to protest and Cuddy raises her voice. "This isn't open to discussion! GO!"

House stomps off to Wilson's office, muttering some comment about how middle-aged women shouldn't dress like teenaged girls. Cuddy fixes a glare on Kate. "Honestly, did you have to shove him?" She hands the lab results to Kate.

Kate says "He brought it on himself. He knows he isn't supposed to be butting in with unsolicited advice. If I have to ask him a question, I will. But that hasn't happened yet."

Cuddy rubs her temple. "I'm not in the mood for this today."

"Like I was? Face it, that man can be a holy terror when he wants to be. He's probably stir crazy from being home and now that he is finally back in public, he is acting like an idiot. He is out of practice with his social skills."

Cuddy turns and heads for the door. "He doesn't have social skills." Cuddy leaves the office.


	16. Chapter 16: Other plans

**Chapter 16: Other plans**

Wilson listens to House's version of how his ex-wife assaulted him while he was exhausted from his PT session while he drives him home. House finally says "What do you think?"

Wilson glances over at House. "I think I've heard Cameron's and Kate's version and they match up better than yours does. Cuddy told you to leave Kate alone while she was here."

"You're supposed to side with me. You're _my_ friend."

"And Kate is my friend too."

House suspiciously eyes Wilson. "You're trying to get laid."

"By your ex-wife? I think not."

"I doubt you could handle her. Did you know she was a screamer?"

"Dammit, I don't want to know that about her!"

House changes the subject. "Let's go to the strip club. Kiki's probably missing us something fierce since we haven't been there in so long."

Wilson shakes his head as he parks the car in front of House's place. "No, I've got to go back to work."

"After work then."

"I already have plans."

House raises an eyebrow. "Female?"

Wilson nods. "Yes."

"Nurse or doctor?"

"Doctor."

"Blond, brunette or red head?"

"Blond and brunette."

House smirks. "You're going out with Kowal and Cuddy instead of going out with me? Wonderful." House throws open the car door and gets out. "Thanks for the ride, Benedict Arnold."

Wilson sighs in exasperation. "OH come on! I'm allowed to go out with co-workers on occasion."

"Yes yes. I know: you wear the big boy pants now. Go have fun with Party Pants and Goldilocks." House slams the car door shut and stomps off to his apartment. Wilson sighs and heads back to the hospital.

Wilson's afternoon passes quickly. He missed having lunch with Kate and is thankful for it; he really didn't want to listen to her rehash her episode with House that morning. He also knows that she won't rehash it in front of Cuddy at dinner. He is sitting in his office, finishing off the last of his medical charts for the day when he hears someone tapping on the balcony door. He glances up and sees Kate peeking in at him. She waves at him and he stands up and heads for the door. She steps back as he opens it and comes out the balcony to join her. She is holding a steaming mug of tea in one hand and has a shawl wrapped around her shoulders to ward off the chill of the crisp early-fall evening.

"Kate, I think House is rubbing off on you."

"Why do you say that?"

"He loves to bang on the balcony door to get me to come out and chat."

Kate smiles. "Well, it just felt natural at the end of a long day to have a chat with a friend while watching the sun set over the fall leaves."

Wilson laughs. "Ok, maybe you aren't totally turning into House. He'd never saying anything that poetic." Kate rolls her eyes at the thought of House being poetic. "So, is Lisa running behind?"

"Yeah, she's running a bit late. She said she would come up and let us know when she'd be able to go, but to leave by 6:30 if we haven't seen her." Kate sips her tea.

Wilson studies her for a moment. "House thinks I want to hook up with you."

Kate chokes on her tea. She finally manages to gasp "What?"

"He thinks I'm interested in you romantically. No, let me phrase that more accurately: he thinks I want to get you in bed."

Kate's cheeks redden. "Well, you told him you didn't, right?"

Wilson nods. "Of course." He casts a sideways glance at her. "I mean, the whole idea of you and I is just ridiculous."

Kate vehemently nods. "Jimmy, you're an attractive man, but you and I'd never be able to get along. You are a touch too obsessive-compulsive for my liking."

Wilson looks wounded. "I'm not obsessive-compulsive!"

"Jimmy, you are. But that's part of your charm."

"You just said I was too obsessive-compulsive for you!"

"Well, you are. But you would be perfect for some other nice woman. I need someone a bit more laid back, but still willing to challenge the rules. You're so straight-laced. And you don't argue. I need someone who will argue with me; challenge me."

Wilson laughs. "You just described House."

Kate rolls her eyes. "I forgot to add I need someone who isn't an self-centered, self-absorbed curmudgeon."

"Whatever. So, you seriously think I'm too obsessive-compulsive?"

"A bit. It's not a bad thing. It's just not my thing."

"Well, you're too bossy for me. And you can be pretty mean sometimes too."

"I am not bossy!"

"Sure you are, but that's part of your charm." His eyes twinkle and his lips turn up in a small smile.

Kate gracefully accepts the barb. "Touché, Dr. Wilson."

"What? You aren't going to argue the 'mean'?"

Kate shakes her head. "No, I know I can be pretty mean sometimes. It' a personality flaw of mine that I need to work on."

Wilson glances at his watch and sighs. "It's getting close to 6:30."

Kate is about to say something when Cuddy pokes her head out the balcony door that joins to House's office. Cuddy says "You two ready to go yet?"

Kate nods. Wilson says "Let me lock up and I'll met you two in the hallway." Wilson goes back to his office. He puts away the files he was working on, grabs his jacket and turns off the lights. He walks into the hallway and Kate and Cuddy are standing there chatting.

Cuddy says "Let's all just take our own vehicles so we don't have to come back here after dinner, ok?" Everyone agrees. They choose a restaurant to meet at.

About twenty minutes later, the trio is being seated in one of the many small, intimate pubs that line the downtown Princeton streets. They are chatting about various things, such as what do older adult singles do for fun in a college town, golf, and movies that are out. They are about halfway through dinner when Kate's pager goes off.

Kate studies the pager and sighs. "Well, that does it for me. Some problems have popped up with our patient and I need to go back to the hospital." Kate hands Cuddy a twenty. "Can you cover me if that isn't enough? I will pay you back when I get home."

Cuddy nods. "Of course. See you later."


	17. Chapter 17: Like a brother

_**Author note**: It's been awhile, but I am back with another chapter. Thanks to all of you who keep hanging in there and reading even though I am not on any sort of regular update schedule right now. Still don't own_ House

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**Chapter 17: Like a brother**

Kate parks her car and goes to the conference room connected to House's office. She is surprised to see the conference room is dark. She looks over to the office and sees the desk lamp on. House is sitting behind the desk with his feet propped up on it. Kate takes a deep breath and walks into the office.

House glances at his watch and says "Wow, you must've been downtown. There's no way you made that good of time from Cuddy's place."

"Let me guess, there's nothing wrong with my patient?"

"Well, besides the fact that she's mysteriously ill?"

Kate's eyes narrow. "Mrs. Hill didn't get worse suddenly, did she?"

"Who's Mrs. Hill?" House picks up the patient file from the desk. "Oh right, your patient. She's still stable."

Kate frowns. She takes her coat off and hangs it on the coat hook along with her purse. She sits on the desk in front of House and crosses her legs. "Ok, Greg. I give up. What is it?"

Greg is thrown. He expected yelling, screaming, and throwing of objects; not a calm response from Kate. "Did you test her for cancer?"

"Don't be stupid. Of course we did."

"Heavy metal poisoning?"

"She was negative."

"Drug use?"

"Occasional pot smoker, but she hasn't smoked in at least six weeks because she is looking for a new job and wants to pass any drug tests that may come up." Kate crosses her legs and makes herself comfortable on the desk.

"Lupus?"

"No. ANA negative, sed rate normal."

"Multiple sclerosis?"

"The MRI and LP were negative."

"Why are you leading Wilson on?"

"What? I'm not leading Wilson on!"

"Sure you are. All he does is talk about you. How much fun you are, how much you know about rheumatology, what a great job you are doing with _my_ department. Admit it: you are trying to bed our little Jimmy."

Kate laughs at him. "I could never sleep with Jimmy. That would be like sleeping with my brother or something. Ew."

"You know he likes you."

"Good for him. I like him too. As a friend."

"He's absolutely cow-eyed over you."

"Greg, you're out of your mind. Jimmy thinks I'm too bossy and mean for his liking."

Greg nods thoughtfully. "Well, at least he still has some sense in his head. Frankly, I think he's a bit too OCD for you."

Kate can't help herself, she laughs. House frowns at her and says "What are you laughing at?"

Kate says "That is exactly what I told him when he and I discussed it this afternoon. He told me you were giving him a hard time and saying he wanted in my pants. We agreed that we don't have feelings for each other and furthermore, it would never work between us."

"And here I was worried Jimmy was about to get himself in to another messy relationship. My work here is done." House doesn't move from the chair.

Kate waits for him to get up to leave, but sees he isn't about to move. "That wasn't why you interrupted my dinner."

Greg nods in agreement. "A fair statement."

"Seriously, what do you want? I can't read your mind. In fact, I don't want to read your mind; I doubt I could afford the therapy I would need afterwards."

"Why did you come here?"

Kate rolls her eyes. "Because you paged me, you jerk."

"No. Why did you come to Princeton?"

Kate nods slowly as if she had been waiting for this question. "I was bored."

Greg shakes his head. "No, that's my line."

"You stole it from me."

"I see it more as I have bought it from you considering all the alimony I pay you."

Kate shakes her head. "Whatever."

Greg stares at her thoughtfully. She meets his stare without flinching. He says "Why would a talented, successful, in-demand doctor drop everything and come from the other side of the country when her ex-husband, the man she blames for nearly destroying her life, asks for her on his deathbed?"

Kate mockingly scratches her head and finally says "I know! I wanted to see you suffer!"

Greg shakes his head. "If that was the case, you would've turned up after the infarction."

"Nah, you still had your girlfriend around then. You were too busy making her miserable to completely focus on your suffering. Lisa and Jimmy told me about after the infarction. You made it your life goal to torture her and make her miserable. It helped take your mind off what she had done to you."

Greg's blue eyes become stormy. "Interesting theory there, Doc. Where could I have learned such destructive behavior?" He points at her and mockingly says "Oh yeah, I learned it from my lovely ex-wife. Granted, I was a lot more vocal in making Stacy miserable. I never was good at giving the silent treatment like you were."

Kate feels her temper begin to rise. "You were never home for me to give you the silent treatment. You hid like a coward at the hospital and threw yourself into your work!"

"And that right there proves how miserable I was! I hate patients! You should know—"

Kate puts her hand up to stop his tirade. His mouth snaps shut. She quietly says "This has gone completely off topic. You're trying to tell me that you had me paged while you knew I was in the middle of dinner to ask me why I came to Princeton?"

He shrugs. "Sure. And to piss you off."

Kate stands up and stretches. "Ok, you score a point for pissing me off. Frankly, I'm at as much a loss on why I came here as you are. It makes no sense for me to be here. But yet I am. Maybe it was out of curiosity. I hadn't spoken to you in years and all of the sudden you are asking for me on what could have easily been your death bed? Either you were hallucinating thinking you were a cast member of _General Hospital_, or you had some ulterior motive. Hell, maybe you wanted to apologize to me for sleeping around on me."

House looks askance and says "I know I must've apologized for that by now."

Kate walks behind him and bitterly laughs. She stares out the window and says "Please! Greg House doesn't apologize for anything! Greg House has no regrets because Greg House is above reproach!"

Greg winces at the bitterness in her voice. He stands up and goes to her side. He gently touches her arm and says "Kate… I know I had to have apologized to you. I must've apologized at some—"

Kate angrily shakes his hand off and stomps over to grab her coat and purse. "You didn't! Trust me; I would've forgiven you if you had just apologized." She yanks her coat on and says "Go home, Greg. Go plot how else you are going to make my time here unpleasant. You'll want to think of some really good things to do to me, because I sure as hell will be figuring out how to make your life hell."

Kate stomps out of the office and nearly knocks Foreman over. He grabs her arms to steady her and says "Hey, Dr. Kowal. Are you ok?" Kate fiercely nods as she wipes some tears away with the back of her hand.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to bump into you." She casts a baleful look back at the office. Foreman follows her bitter stare and sees House on the receiving end.

"Look, I'm sure he was a complete asshole to you, but he doesn't deserve your tears. He's a bastard."

Kate sarcastically says "Oh believe me, I know that." She emits a shaky laugh when she realizes House is staring at them. "Why are you still here?"

Foreman says "Just following up on our patient. She is still stable, no changes. I was waiting for Chase to show up and relieve me for watching over Mrs. Hill."

Kate nods. "Chase is here then?" Foreman nods. "How about you come get a drink with me and tell me what a creep House is for awhile? I'm in the mood for some House-bashing."

Foreman laughs. "Who isn't?" Foreman glances over at House and then back to Kate. "Sure, I'll join you for a drink. Let me grab my coat."

Kate glances back at the office. House is still staring at them. "I am going to wait for you in the stairwell. He can't follow us there."

Foreman nods. "Ok." Kate hurries down the hall to the stairwell. Foreman goes in the conference room and collects his coat. House waltzes into the conference room and starts in on Foreman.

"She's a bruiser. She nearly knocked you over. Don't tell me you are gonna take that from Whitey?" House arches an eyebrow at Foreman.

"Why are you here? I thought you were banned from the office during your recuperation?"

"I was just checking up on my favorite set of ducklings and the wicked witch of the west."

Foreman pulls his coat on and asks "Does that make you the wicked witch of the east?"

House chuckles. "I suppose so."

Foreman says "Then you should be careful nobody drops a house on you, House. Whatever you said to her got under her skin." Foreman heads for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Dr. Kowal invited me out for a drink. I'm going to go meet her."

"You mind as well give up all dreams of getting your jungle fever on. She likes the white meat."

Foreman shakes his head and opens the door. "You're a pig." Foreman heads down the hallway.

House won't be outdone. He grabs his coat and hat and pulls them on. He hurries out to the hallway. He heads for the elevators, expecting to see Foreman and Kate. Instead, he sees them heading down the stairwell. "Dammit!" He hurries to the elevator and jams the down button. The elevator takes its time coming. By the time he makes it to the lobby, there is no sign of Foreman and Kate. However, Wilson is walking into the lobby.

Wilson is dumbfounded. "What are you doing here?"

House grumbles "I work here."

Wilson says "Not while you're on medical leave. Besides, you wouldn't be here after hours to work."

"Sure I would. I'm devoted to my job."

Wilson snorts. Then his eyes narrow in suspicion. "Did you see Kate?"

"She went to go get a drink with Mandingo."

Wilson incredulously asks "She's out with Foreman?" House nods. He avoids meeting Wilson's eye. Wilson suspiciously asks "What did you say to her?"

House feigns an innocent look. "Me? What would I possibly say to my lovely ex-wife that could possibly upset her?"

Wilson sighs. "Never mind. I'll ask her myself in the morning. How did you get here?"

House sighs. "Taxi. Will you give me a ride home?"

Wilson nods. "Sure, although I'm sure you don't deserve it."

The two men walk out of the lobby with Wilson lecturing House about being nicer to Kate.


	18. Chapter 18: False alarm

**Chapter 18: False alarm**

Kate parks her car and goes to the conference room connected to House's office. She is surprised to see the conference room is dark. She looks over to the office and sees the desk lamp on. House is sitting behind the desk with his feet propped up on it. Kate takes a deep breath and walks into the office.

House glances at his watch and says "Wow, you must have been downtown. There is no way you made that good of time from Cuddy's place."

"Let me guess, there is nothing wrong with my patient?"

"Well, besides the fact that she's mysteriously ill?"

Kate's eyes narrow. "Mrs. Hill didn't get worse suddenly, did she?"

"Who's Mrs. Hill?" House picks up the patient file from the desk. "Oh right, your patient. She's still stable."

Kate frowns. She takes her coat off and hangs it on the coat hook along with her purse. She sits on the desk in front of House and crosses her legs. "Ok, Greg. I give up. What is it?"

Greg is thrown. He expected yelling, screaming, and throwing of objects; not a calm response from Kate. "Did you test her for cancer?"

"Don't be stupid. Of course we did."

"Heavy metal poisoning?"

"She was negative."

"Drug use?"

"Occasional pot smoker, but she hasn't smoked in at least six weeks because she's looking for a new job and wants to pass any drug tests." Kate crosses her legs and makes herself comfortable on the desk.

"Lupus?"

"No. ANA negative, sed rate normal."

"Multiple sclerosis?"

"The MRI and LP were negative."

"Why are you leading Wilson on?"

"What? I'm not leading Wilson on!"

"Sure you are. All he does is talk about you. How much fun you are, how much you know about rheumatology, what a great job you are doing with _my_ department. Admit it: you're trying to bed our little Jimmy."

Kate laughs at him. "I could never sleep with Jimmy. That would be like sleeping with my brother or something. Ew."

"You know he likes you."

"Good for him. I like him too. As a friend."

"He's absolutely cow-eyed over you."

"Greg, you're out of your mind. Jimmy thinks I'm too bossy and mean for his liking."

Greg nods thoughtfully. "Well, at least he still has some sense in his head. Frankly, I think he's a bit too OCD for you."

Kate can't help herself, she laughs. House frowns at her and says "What are you laughing at?"

Kate says "That's exactly what I told him when he and I discussed it this afternoon. He told me you were giving him a hard time and saying he wanted in my pants. We agreed that we don't have feelings for each other and furthermore, it would never work between us."

"And here I was worried Jimmy was about to get himself into another messy relationship. My work here is done." House doesn't move from the chair.

Kate waits for him to get up to leave, but sees he isn't about to move. "That wasn't why you interrupted my dinner."

Greg nods in agreement. "A fair statement."

"Seriously, what do you want? I can't read your mind. In fact, I don't want to read your mind; I doubt I could afford the therapy I'd need afterwards."

"Why did you come here?"

Kate rolls her eyes. "Because you paged me, you jerk."

"No. Why'd you come to Princeton?"

Kate nods slowly as if she had been waiting for this question. "I was bored."

Greg shakes his head. "No, that's my line."

"You stole it from me."

"I see it more as I've bought it from you considering all the alimony I pay you."

Kate shakes her head. "Whatever."

Greg stares at her thoughtfully. She meets his stare without flinching. He says "Why would a talented, successful, in-demand doctor drop everything and come from the other side of the country when her ex-husband, the man she blames for nearly destroying her life, asks for her on his deathbed?"

Kate mockingly scratches her head and finally says "I know! I wanted to see you suffer!"

Greg shakes his head. "If that was the case, you would have turned up after the infarction."

"Nah, you still had your girlfriend around then. You were too busy making her miserable to completely focus on your suffering. Lisa and Jimmy told me about after the infarction. You made it your life goal to torture her and make her miserable. It helped take your mind off what she had done to you."

Greg's blue eyes become stormy. "Interesting theory there, Doc. Where could I've learned such destructive behavior?" He points at her and mockingly says "Oh yeah, I learned it from my lovely ex-wife. Granted, I was a lot more vocal in making her miserable. I never was good at giving the silent treatment like you were."

Kate feels her temper begin to rise. "You were never home for me to give you the silent treatment. You hid like a coward at the hospital and threw yourself into your work."

"And that right there proves how miserable I was! I hate patients! You should know—"

Kate puts her hand up to stop his tirade. His mouth snaps shut. She quietly says "This has gone completely off topic. You are trying to tell me you had me paged while you knew I was in the middle of dinner to ask me why I came to Princeton?"

He shrugs. "Sure. Well, and to piss you off."

Kate stands up and stretches. "Ok, you score a point for pissing me off. Frankly, I'm at as much a loss on why I came here as you are. It makes no sense for me to be here. But yet I am. I'm sure there could be a million reasons why I'm here. Maybe it was out of curiosity. I hadn't spoken to you in years and all of the sudden you are asking for me on what could have easily been your death bed? Either you were hallucinating thinking you were a cast member of _General Hospital_, or you had some ulterior motive."

"What are the other reasons?"

"I was hoping to see you die?"

Greg smirks. "Were you going to apologize to me on my death bed for being such a pain in my ass and drain on my bank account?"

Kate scoffs. "Hardly. I was going to throw a victory party once you kicked the bucket."

Greg stands up and looks down at her. He says "I think you still want me."

Kate says "I think you want _me_. You're the one who asked for me."

Greg slightly leans in closer to her. She ever so slightly flinches, but doesn't back away. His eyes search her face for something. She whispers "Don't do it."

Greg straightens. He sadly smiles at her and says "Cameron would say you are just as damaged as I am."

Kate stiffly says "I'm not damaged."

Greg smirks and grabs his jacket. "Neither am I. Cameron seems to think I am. She wants to rescue me and nurse me back to health. She wants to fix me. The things that so intrigue her and appeal to her about me are the same things that make you tick. You are just better at acting like a 'normal' human being." He pulls on his jacket and then hands Kate her jacket.

Kate takes the jacket and pulls it on. "Well, it's easy to see why she thinks you're damaged. You're an insensitive, misogynistic bastard who's lazy and has no concept of tact."

He laughs. "Thanks for the compliment. You're exactly the same, except you aren't lazy and you have a decent grasp on tact. Do you think I'm damaged?"

"No, I think you are a jerk. Big difference. But you seem to think I'm damaged."

"No, I said Cameron would think you are damaged. Me? I think you're just hell on high heels."

Kate laughs. "Coming from you, that is a compliment." She grabs her purse. "Since my patient is stable, I'm going home now."

"Can I have a ride home? Wilson hid the keys to my bike and I didn't feel like driving the car."

"That's your problem, not mine."

"You're going to make a cripple hail a taxi cab at this hour? Nice."

Kate sighs heavily. "Fine. I will drive you home. There will be no complaints about ANY of the following: my driving, my rental car, my music, my clothing, or my attitude. Got it?"

"Can I complain about the weather? How about clinic hours?"

Kate rolls her eyes and mutters "Come on." She ushers House out of the office and turns off the lights.


	19. Chapter 19: Pretty boys make me nervous

**Chapter 19: Pretty boys make me nervous**

He swirls the scotch on the rocks around the glass. He is sitting in the dark, contemplating his ex-wife. He slightly smiles as he thinks about the first time he met her.

They were in some bar down by the college. It wasn't one of his usual haunts, but he had agreed to go hang out with some of the guys from work. Most of the other guys had already found perky young co-eds to hit on. Most of the women were entirely too young for his taste. She was young too, but not as young as most of the women in the bar. And she really got his attention when she dumped three beers down the front of his shirt.

_She had picked the beers up and then turned to go back to her table. He had been standing right behind her and she bumped into him and sloshed beer all over him._

_The man looked annoyed to be drenched in beer. "Lucky you have a nice rack, or I'd hit you."_

_She cringed. She had just dumped $15 dollars worth of beer down the front of his shirt. What little bit of buzz she had was rapidly dissipating. "Dammit. Sorry." She turned back to the bar and put the empty glasses down and then grabbed a towel. She turned around to face him and began to mop up his shirt. "At least I dumped expensive beer all over you," she muttered._

_He studied the blushing blond in front of him mopping up his shirt. She was shorter than him and cute. He hadn't been joking about the nice rack either. She was vigorously rubbing his shirt with the towel. He grabbed her hand and said "I think you're just rubbing it in more instead of mopping it up." The woman looked up at him and he was momentarily startled by the bright green eyes that met his icy blue eyes. _

_At least she dumped beer on a good-looking guy. "Let me buy you a drink to apologize."_

_He nodded. "Glenlivet, on the rocks." She nodded and turned back to the bar. She ordered two scotches as well as two more beers. The bartender set the drinks on the bar in front of her. She started to pick one up to hand to him but he stopped her by saying "Let me get that this time so I don't end up wearing it."_

_Her cheeks reddened even more as she sipped her drink and she said "Good grief, it's not like I said 'Hmmm… dumping three beers on some random dude seems like a great idea!'"_

_He smirked. "Yeah, I think it is a better idea to dump two or four beers on a random guy. It's a bit more balanced that way." The look on her face is strained. "Hey, it's ok. I know you didn't do it on purpose. What person would waste expensive beer like that?"_

_She flashed him a tentative smile. "It _was_ flagrant alcohol abuse."_

_He grinned at her. "I knew you had to have a sense of humor. What's your name?"_

"_My name is Kate. What's your's?"_

"_I'm Greg." He smiled at her. "With those green peepers, you look like you should be a 'Kat', not a 'Kate.'" She blushed again. "Why do you blush so much? Haven't you ever been paid any compliments?"_

_She nervously said "I'm not good with men."_

_He laughed at her. "I don't buy that."_

_She shook her head. "No, really, I tend to do stupid things like drench them in beer or publicly humiliate them." _

_Suddenly, Lisa bustled up to them. Greg had his back to her and Lisa only saw Kate at first. "Oh fabulous! We send you to get us more beer and you flake out and start hitting on random strangers at the bar!"_

_Greg turned around and said "Dear God! It's Lisa Cuddy!"_

_Lisa's mouth made a small "O". She stared at him for a moment and finally said "Greg House?"_

_He grinned as he peered down her low cut shirt. "The one and only. I see the twins are doing nicely."_

_Lisa frowned. "Kate, you could at least hit on the ones who are not egotistical bastards with size issues. Did you even order the beer yet?"_

_Kate looked slightly stunned that her friend knew Greg. "Um right, yeah." She handed Lisa two beers. "Here. You go on back to Ethan. I need to buy this guy a drink. I accidentally spilled the first round of beers all over him."_

_Lisa shook her head as if she wasn't surprised and carefully balanced the two beer mugs in one hand. "Greg House may look like he is charming and a good catch, but he is nothing but a misogynistic bastard who wants nothing but a wild one-night stand."_

_Greg winked at Kate and said "Cuddy here knows from first-hand experience." Cuddy punched him in the arm hard. "Hey! You can't go around beating on men!"_

_Cuddy imploringly said "Please, Kate, just buy him his drink and then come back to the table. Ethan'll introduce you to some of his buddies from the fire department." Cuddy spun around and headed for the table._

_Greg grinned at Kate. "You're a bad girl. You lied to your friend."_

_Kate impishly smiled. "I figured I owed you a drink for each beer I spilled on you." She signaled to the bartender to pour another two drinks. _

_Greg grinned at her. "I like the way you think." The bartender deposited the two drinks on the bar. Greg grabbed one and she grabbed the other. "So, you seem fairly normal. How did you end up being acquainted with a shrew like Lisa Cuddy?"_

"_She's not a shrew! She is an intelligent and talented woman!"_

"_Who has a nice rack, albeit not as nice as yours. You should take some wardrobe pointers from her," Greg said as he eyed her modestly-cut blouse and sipped his drink._

_Kate knocked back her scotch and snapped "I am dressed just fine. Finish your drink. I want to get back to my friends."_

_He finished his drink in a large gulp and she gestured to the bartender for another round. She slapped a fifty down on the bar to cover the drinks and told the bartender to keep the change. The bartender quickly had two more scotches waiting on the bar. Kate grabbed them and held one out to Greg. "Here, take it. I don't have all night."_

_Greg carefully eyed her. He said "Well, since this is the last drink you owe me for drenching me in beer, why don't we have a nice toast so you can scurry back to Cuddy and her fireman?"_

"_Fine. What do you want to drink to?" She impatiently tapped her fingers on the scotch glass._

"_How about to Cuddy and her fireman?" Greg smirked at her and winked._

_Kate rolled her eyes and said "Fine, to Lisa and Ethan." She raised her glass to clink against his. He moved his glass close to hers, and then in a sudden calculated move, dumped his drink down the front of her shirt. _

"_Oops! My bad!" Greg feigned a look of innocence as he put the glass on the bar top and grabbed a towel. He started to dab at her shirt. _

"_You did that on purpose!" Kate swats his towel-wielding hand away from her shirt._

"_It was an accident! I know! I will buy you a drink as an apology." Greg impishly smiled at her._

"_Ugh, I don't want you to buy me a drink," she said and thrust her drink at him. "Take it." He obligingly takes the drink from her hand. She unbuttons her blouse and pulls it off to reveal a low cut, dry tank top. Greg's eyes widened in appreciation and he emitted a low whistle. "Shut up."_

_Greg batted his eyes at her and gave his best puppy dog look. "I said I was sorry."_

"_Right. I think the score is even now, Greg House." Kate walked away from him and back to her table. _

_The night passed quickly. True to her word, Lisa introduced Kate to several fireman friends of Ethan's. Kate had taken a liking to one of the guys, Tom. They spent most of the evening dancing. Soon, it was closing time. Kate gathered her purse and smelly, wet blouse and Tom walked her outside. Lisa and Ethan had headed back to his place earlier in the evening. _

_Tom was putting on his best moves in an effort to get Kate back to his place. "I really had a good time tonight with you. Why don't you come back to my place for a drink?"_

_Kate shivered in the cool evening. "I don't think so. I barely know you. How about you give me a call tomorrow and we can go from there?"_

_Tom took her hands in his and imploringly said "Come on, just one drink."_

_Kate smiled and said "I think I have had plenty tonight. How about we go to lunch tomorrow and get to know each other better?"_

"_Or you could come back to my place and I could make you breakfast in the morning," Tom said with a grin._

_The smile fell off Kate's face and she said "I'm not that kind of girl." She tried to twist out his grasp, but to her shock, his hands tightened their grip on hers. He started to walk down the sidewalk with her in tow. Kate nervously said "Come on, Tom, this isn't funny."_

"_You're going to come have a drink at my place. You can leave after that." He stopped at a car and fumbled with his keys in one hand while keeping a firm grip on her. _

_Then he appeared. "She said she didn't want to go back to your place." Kate never thought she would be so relieved to see Greg House standing next to them. Tom immediately released her hands. _

"_Who are you?" Tom demanded._

"_I'm her older brother. And I don't appreciate you messing with my baby sister." Greg gave Tom a threatening look and said to Kate "Are you ok, Katie? I'll give you a ride home."_

_Kate was too relieved to yell at him for lying. "Ok. I need a ride." Greg took her hand and lead her away from the car. Once they have walked a good distance away, she heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you."_

_Greg tsked and said "That's what happens when you play with firemen." He noticed she was shivering and threw his leather coat over her shoulders. "You really shouldn't be running around in a tank top."_

_Kate smirked. "Funny thing happened. Some jerk at the bar dumped his drink on me."_

"_Really? Some bitch dumped three beers on me earlier tonight."_

_Kate laughed. "I bet that jerk and that bitch may have a lot in common."_

_Greg nodded as he opened the car door for her. "If I was that jerk, I would ask that bitch if she wanted to go out to lunch tomorrow."_

"_If I was that bitch, I'd say yes."_


	20. Chapter 20: Get some sugar

_Author's note: Sorry, I have been busy with work and life in general and haven't been able to devote much time to writing. But, I have two new chapters with this update and we are quickly closing in on the end of the story. As always, thanks for the reviews. I am glad you are enjoying reading this as much as I am enjoying writing it. I still don't House or any of the ducklings or Cuddy or Wilson, however, Kate is all mine._

**Chapter 20: Get some sugar**

Another few weeks have passed with little trouble. Kate has managed to mostly avoid House. He has stopped in a few times to the office to pass around insults and make sure everything is running smoothly. He also keeps tabs on her through Wilson and Cuddy.

House is as close to be being "better" as he will get. He is bored with being at home but he isn't anxious to get back to the hospital either. While the thought of a difficult case is attractive, clinic hours and paperwork and having to deal with Cuddy and the ducklings do not appeal to him.

House is at his apartment, sitting on his piano bench and staring out the window at the rainy, dreary day. He is twirling his cane in his left hand and playing the piano with his right hand. He absently hums along with the plucky little waltz he is tapping out on the ivory keys. He hears a knock at the door and yells "It's open!"

Wilson comes in the front door and shakes his head. "Do you think it is wise to leave your front door unlocked?" House continues playing the piano and ignores Wilson. "Are you ready to go to lunch?"

House stops playing and stands up. He slowly and awkwardly walks over to Wilson, without using the cane. Wilson hides his smile. He knows House will get mad if he makes any sort of acknowledgement about his progress. Instead, Wilson asks "Where do you want to go eat?"

House thinks for a moment and says "How about the pizza place down by the campus?"

Wilson nods. "Sounds good to me." They walk out to Wilson's car and get in. Wilson heads for the pizza place. "So, anything new and exciting going on with you?"

House shakes his head. "Nope. Just the same old stuff. You know, watching soap operas and _Sponge Bob_. Thinking of new insults for Cuddy and new ways to torture Chase."

Wilson smirks. "Rough existence."

House nods. "It is. There are only so many euphemisms for cleavage. What's going on with you?"

"The divorce will be final at the end of the month. I am pretty sure Julie moved in with the guy she was sleeping with."

"Well, that should make you have to pay less alimony."

Wilson bitterly laughs. "Actually, she is paying me alimony. She was the one who was cheating, plus with her job, she makes more than I do."

"Are you going to spend your alimony on shoes like Kate does? I personally think you should spend your alimony on me to even out the karmic imbalance that is created from me paying her alimony."

Wilson shakes his head. "You are amazing."

"Awww. I didn't know you cared."

Wilson parks the car in front of the pizza place and kills the engine. House and Wilson hurry into the restaurant and get moderately wet from the rain. The restaurant is filled mostly with college students and some adults from the offices close to campus. There are also some doctors from the hospital. They grab a table in the back after placing their orders.

House is sipping his soda and staring at the television set with the soap operas. Wilson casually says "Cameron wants to throw a going away party for Kate."

House continues staring at the television set and asks "Why?"

Wilson says "Generally, that is the type of thing that is done for someone that is well-respected by their peers when they leave their job voluntarily."

House sighs. "Cameron respects her? I figured that Cameron would hate her."

"Why would Cameron hate her?"

"Competition. And because Kate was replacing her crush. Cameron pines after me, y'know."

Wilson laughs. "You're delusional. You pretty much blew your chances with Cameron after you slept with Stacy."

House looks at Wilson. "Do you think so? It seemed like she was ready to come to my rescue after that bitch Stacy broke my heart again."

"You broke Stacy's heart!"

"Eh, you say to-may-to, I say ta-mah-to. The important thing is that Cameron once again thought I was broken and damaged and she thinks that's hot. Besides, she digs my bike."

Wilson shakes his head. "You're hopeless."

"Says you, Mr. Third-Divorce-Is-Nearly-Final." The waitress brings their food and House turns on his million dollar smile at the cute blonde. "Thanks sweetie."

The waitress grins at House. "No problem, sugar."

House watches her walk away and then says "You need yourself a young one this next time."

"Who said I was looking again?"

House sagely says "You can't go long without a woman. Women are a necessity with you, not an option."

"Ok, somehow this went from Cameron wanting to throw a going away party for Kate to my love life."

House takes a bite of pizza and then says with his mouth full "Oh yeah. I think if Cameron is throwing Kate a going away party, she needs to throw me a Welcome Back party."

Wilson dryly says "I'll be sure to tell her that."

"Tell her I prefer chocolate cake. The kind with the really rich fudge frosting."

"Who said you were going to get cake?"

"It's a party, right? What kind of party doesn't have cake?"

"Somehow, I just don't see Cameron throwing you a Welcome Back party."

"Why not? She always decorates for Christmas and puts up stockings and all that crap. If she is throwing Kate a Going Away party, she'll definitely throw me a Welcome Back party. Ooo, do you suppose she will give me a hug like she did Foreman when he came back after her attempt to lobotomize him? I would think being shot by a psycho ex-husband of a patient has got to rate up there with lobotomy."

"House, Cameron didn't try to lobotomize Foreman! She was doing a brain biopsy in an effort to save his life!"

"Whatever. She kept pressure on the gunshot wound in my abdomen until they got me down to Trauma 1. She helped to save my life too. All I'm saying is that I ought to get some sugar too when I come back to work after my convalescence."

Wilson decides the ignoring House is his best bet. He starts eating his lunch. The two men finish their meals in silence. As they are finishing eating, Wilson's pager goes off. Wilson studies the pager for a moment and then says "Although it is against my better judgment, I am going to have to stop at the hospital before I bring you home. I have an emergency with a patient."

"I will stop by and visit the ducklings then."

Wilson throws a twenty on the table and then stands up and heads to the car as House follows him. "You are supposed to stay away from Kate while she is working here."

"I know. I am going to visit the ducklings, not her."

Wilson simply sighs and leads the way to his car.


	21. Chapter 21: You never know

**Chapter 21: You never know**

The ride to the hospital is silent. Wilson parks his car and hurries off to his emergency. House heads up to the diagnostics conference room. He stands in the hallway and gazes in the conference room. Foreman is sitting at the table with Cameron. Chase is playing with House's tennis ball by the coffee machine and Kate is perched on a stool next to the white board. He then reads the list of symptoms: rash, fever, fatigue, seizures, weight loss, joint stiffness, cough, muscle pain and elevated white blood cell count. He walks in while Foreman and Cameron argue. Kate frowns when she sees him.

Cameron says "It has to be lupus. The corticosteroids aren't strong enough. We need to get him on either Methotrexate or Azathioprine."

"But the patient got worse when we started the corticosteroids which suggests that it isn't lupus at all, but possibly Hodgkin's."

"But the tests were negative for Hodgkin's."

House silently picks up the file while Foreman and Cameron continue to argue. Chase interjects something every now and then and Kate is remarkably silent. Just as House is about to make a suggestion, Kate speaks.

"Infection. It may have been hiding but the corticosteroids woke it up. Stop the corticosteroids. Don't suppress his immune system anymore or it will kill him."

House looks at her and nods. "Twenty three year old white male, enjoys camping and recently traveled to the Caribbean. Visited St. Lucia, Antigua and Montserrat. Did our intrepid traveler partake in camping and water sports?"

Foreman and Cameron shrug. Chase says "Yeah, he said he camped and got to explore some really awesome waterfalls."

House's eyes brighten. "Schistosomiasis. Get a stool and urine sample and look for the eggs. Also get a chest x-ray to see if he has developed any pulmonary fibrosis. When the tests come back positive—and they will—start him on Praziquantel."

The ducklings look to Kate and she nods. "Go do what he said."

The ducklings scurry off. House walks over to the white board and writes _Schistosomiasis_. He says "I would have guessed lupus first too."

"No, you wouldn't have." Kate looks tired. She stands up stiffly and stretches. "You would have said no to this case because it wasn't challenging enough." She gingerly rubs her hip. House feels a pang of guilt as he watches her rub the hip that was broken in the car accident.

House shrugs. "Maybe. But I say that about all my cases when they first present."

Kate pinches the bridge of her nose and looks down at the floor. "This case had me stumped."

"Well, it should have. It's not like Schistosomiasis presents every day."

Kate weakly smiles. "You aren't positive it is Schistosomiasis yet."

"Ah, there is the argumentative and disagreeable ex-wife I know and love."

Kate shakes her head. She heads for the office and says "I am not in the mood for you today."

He follows her into the office and yanks her hair to stop her from sitting in the desk chair.

"Ow! That hurt!" She watches House flop into his chair. A realization hits her. "You're not using your cane!"

"Your powers of deduction are simply amazing."

"Well, hair pulling isn't your M.O. Smacking people in the shins with your cane is." She sits on the desktop next to him.

"Woman, do you ever sit on a chair? You are always sitting on desks, tables or counters."

"You're sitting in my seat."

"Technically, it's my seat. You are merely borrowing it when I'm not here."

"The chairs you have for guests are uncomfortable."

"Sitting on the desk can't be good for your hip."

Kate frowns at him. "It's the damn rain that makes it hurt."

House incredulously says "And you _choose_ to live in Seattle? And all this time I thought you were a sadist, not a masochist."

Kate sighs. "Why are you here?"

"Wilson and I went to lunch, but he had to come handle some emergency before he could take me home."

"Fantastic. So I am stuck babysitting you?"

"Well, I wanted to visit my ducklings. I needed to make sure you haven't corrupted them. Wilson says our little Cameron thinks you are great."

"If she does, it's because I treat her like an intelligent human being, not some pretty little ball of fluff like you do."

House whispers conspiratorially "She has the hots for me." He puffs out his chest like he is the head rooster of the farmyard.

Kate laughs. "Trust me, stud, she doesn't anymore. Maybe if you hadn't been such an ass to her all the time, you might have had a chance with her."

"What do mean, 'might have had a chance with her?' Of course I still have a chance with her!"

"In your dreams, cowboy. You shouldn't have hooked back up with Stacy for those few days."

"How do you know that?"

Kate smirks. "I didn't. You just confirmed it." House's jaw drops open. "Oh my god. I made you speechless!"

House quickly recovers. He stands up and rumples her hair. "I taught you well, grasshopper."

Cameron and Chase walk back into the room to catch House in the act of rumpling Kate's hair. House quickly snatches his hand away from Kate's head and Kate smoothes her hair down as nothing happened.

"Well, what did the tests say?"

Chase waits for Cameron to speak, but she is staring wide-eyed at House. Chase rolls his eyes and says "It's Schistosomiasis. We started him on treatment."

Kate slowly stands up and nods. "Good work. I want you to monitor the patient and watch for any cardiovascular and pulmonary complications. The seizures should stop as the eggs begin to die off." Kate rubs her sore hip again and stares at Chase and Cameron who are staring at her. "Was there something else?"

Chase shakes his head. "Urm, no. Come on, Cam."

Cameron wordlessly turns and leaves the office. Chase follows. Kate watches the two young doctors walk down the hallway. She suddenly feels warm breath in her ear whispering "Bullshit. She still wants me."

Kate freezes. She feels Greg's warm breath caress her neck and the fine small hairs on her arm stand up on end. She can't remember the last time she felt this excited by anything or anyone… well, she did. She hadn't felt this way since she was married to him. She holds her breath and waits for the moment to come to a crashing halt.

Greg sniffs in appreciation. She smells like roses and jasmine and gingersnaps and musk and Earl Gray tea. Her scent brings back memories of lazy days at the park and weekends in bed. He can see the slight flush that is creeping up her neck and he smiles. He is itching to touch her honey blond hair to see if it is still soft as it used to be. He gently fingers a tendril of hair that rests against her collarbone.

Kate jerks away from him. She spins around to face him and says "What are you doing?"

He quietly says "I had to see if your hair was still soft." Kate stares at him, slack-jawed with shock. He nods and says "It is."

Kate manages to slightly compose herself. "Greg—"

He puts his finger to her lips and says "Shut up. Don't ruin the moment by talking." He gently caresses her cheek and she stares at him with a look of confusion on her face. One second turns into several.

The moment comes to a crashing halt when Cuddy walks in, talking and reading from a file. "Kate, are you serious? The patient has Schisto —" Cuddy stops and stares at House and Kate. Her jaw drops and she blurts "OH MY GOD." The patient file falls to her side.

Greg steps back from Kate and sticks the offending hand in his pocket. He coldly rakes his eyes over Cuddy and scathingly says "You really should keep the twins covered better on a cold, damp day like this. It would be a travesty if they fell ill."

Cuddy shoots a dirty look at House and says "KATE! Have you lost your mind?"

Kate calmly says "The test results confirmed the patient had Schistosomiasis. We've started the patient on treatment and we'll be collecting samples to send to the CDC."

Cuddy is clearly exasperated. "No. You and House. Have you lost your mind?"

"I am in perfect control of my mind. Gregory and I were just having a discussion about the patient."

Cuddy is about to say more when Greg cuts her off. "What I think your bestest friend in the world is trying to tactfully say is 'Butt Out'."

Cuddy throws the patient's file on the desk. She says "I am going to go to my office and have a good stiff drink and pretend I didn't see any of this." Cuddy hurries out of the office, leaving Kate and Greg to stare at each other.

Kate finally says "What just happened here?"

Greg tries to be light-humored with his answer. "It's not my fault you smell good."

Kate rolls her eyes. "You know that's not what I mean."

Greg shrugs. "I don't know. You are the last person I need to get tangled up with."

"Agreed. Rationally, I know that. But right now, all I can think about is getting you in bed."

Greg's eyes sparkle. "Drive me back to my place and I will give you your going away present."

Kate smirks and takes the patient's file. "I have some samples to collect for the CDC." Greg watches her walk out of the office and down the hall. He is still standing there staring at the hallway when Wilson comes in.

Wilson glances around the room and says "I guess they're all working on the patient?"

Greg looks at Wilson and drawls "Sure."

Wilson arches an eyebrow at Greg's answer. "Right. Do you want me to run you home real quick? I need to get back here once I drop you off."

Greg nods. The two men walk down to Wilson's car. The ride back to House's place is silent. Wilson figures House is sulking since nobody was in the office for him to annoy. Wilson double parks in front of House's apartment. "Well, here we are."

Greg nods. "Thanks for the ride. Hey, do something for me."

Wilson sighs. "That depends. How much trouble am I going to get into?"

Greg puts on an injured air. "Jeez Jimmy, why do you assume every time I ask you to do something that it will get you in trouble?"

Wilson laughs. "Because you have a pretty good track record for getting me in trouble."

"Don't be a baby. Just tell Kate that she needs to come over after work and get her going away present."

Wilson shrugs and says "Ok, that seems harmless enough. I'll be sure to tell her. Although, I would doubt she will actually take you up on that offer."

Greg smirks as he gets out of the car. He quickly leans in the door and says "Oh, you never know."


	22. Chapter 22: Million dollar question

**Chapter 22: Million dollar question**

Kate has gathered all the samples required for the CDC. She is in the lab, quietly working on prepping the samples to be sent to the CDC. Cameron walks in and stops suddenly when she sees her interim boss working on the samples. Kate looks up and realizes Cameron is pale except for the red stains on her cheeks.

Kate softly says "How's the patient doing?"

"Better. The meds are starting to work. There's a small bit of pulmonary fibrosis, but it shouldn't have any impact on his quality of life."

Kate nods. "Good to hear."

Cameron nods and goes to the centrifuge. She idly tinkers with it for a few moments. Kate goes back to packaging the samples. Suddenly, Cameron says "Do you still love him?"

Kate drops the pen she was writing with as her head jerks up. "By 'him,' I assume you mean House?"

Cameron curtly says "Of course I mean House."

Kate sighs. "I don't know. I care about him and he'll always hold a piece of my heart. But just because you care about someone or even love them doesn't mean they're good for you."

Cameron stares at her. "If you still care about him, why don't you try to work it out?"

"He is not the man I fell in love with. He's changed and I've changed. It's not meant to be."

"So you don't love him now because he's damaged?"

Kate shakes her head at Cameron. "He isn't damaged. He's just House. It would take a very special woman to love him and his sarcasm."

Cameron defends her boss. "He's just sarcastic because he is trying to hide the pain. He's been sarcastic for so long that he doesn't know how to act now that he isn't in pain."

Kate smothers her laugh. "Allison, that doesn't explain why he was a sarcastic bastard all the years before the infarction. Some people are just sarcastic. There isn't a reason why they are; they just are. It's like how some people are very nice or very grumpy. The sarcasm is his personality, not some defense mechanism. And while the sarcasm can be fun sometimes, I don't find it fun all the time. Haven't you ever met someone who is always 'on'? Like somebody who is always joking. They don't take anything seriously; all they do is play and joke. House is always on with the sarcasm. Everything can be snarked as far as he's concerned. Your clothes, your hair, what you eat for dinner. Everything. While I'm very much in touch with my sarcastic side, there are also other facets of my personality, like compassion, humor, annoyance that I like to exhibit every now and then and those facets simply don't mesh with my snarktastic ex-husband."

Cameron stubbornly clings to her vision of House. "There's kindness and compassion in him. He just needs to be shown that is ok to show it."

Kate sighs. "First, if there's compassion in that man, I will eat my shoes. Second, if you want to waste the rest of your life trying to coax the kindness and compassion out of Greg House by loving and nurturing him, be my guest. Just know that it's a hopeless battle.

Kate turns away from Cameron. Cameron sighs as she realizes the conversation is over. She sits at one of the lab tables and begins making notations to the patient's file. Kate quickly and efficiently finishes packaging the samples for the CDC. She places the samples into secure biohazard travel cases and then stores them in lab's cooler to await pickup. She then heads back to the office.

As she walks down to the hall, she passes Wilson. He looks up from the file he is reading and warmly smiles at you. "Hey Kate, please don't shoot the messenger."

Kate quizzically looks at Wilson. "What's up, James?"

"House said you need to go over to his place after work and get your going away present." Wilson studies her for a moment. "Any idea what he would get you as a going away present?"

Kate tries not to smirk at James. She manages to put on her best innocent look and say "Um, maybe a bottle of scotch or something since I brought him some when he first got out of the hospital?"

James shrugs. "I guess that's possible. Just remember, no shooting the messenger if you don't like the gift."

Kate nods. "Thanks for the message, James." Wilson nods and heads down the hallway. Kate continues walking towards the office.

Foreman is heading out for the evening and waves at Kate. She smiles absently and waves back as she walks in the door of the conference room. Chase is sitting there, filling out a crossword puzzle. Kate glances at him and asks "Why are you still here?"

Chase says "I was waiting on you." He sets the puzzle and pen down and stands up.

"Ok. Here I am. What's up?"

"Do you still have feelings for House?"

Kate eyes grow huge. "Look, I know that you and Cameron walked in on what appeared to be an intimate moment, but I assure you—"

"No, I'm asking because I was wondering if… Well, if sometime, before you go back to Seattle, that maybe we could go to dinner or something." Chase shyly pushes some of the blonde locks of hair out of his eyes and earnestly looks at Kate.

Kate is truly surprised, albeit relieved that she isn't about to be grilled by Chase. "Oh." Suddenly, understanding of what Chase just said dawns upon her. "Oooooh. Chase, you are a really nice guy and I've enjoyed working with you, but it doesn't really make sense to try to hook up right before I'm due to go home."

Chase shifts his weight from one foot to another. He slowly says "I suppose not."

Kate feels bad. "Maybe if the circumstances were different, it could be a possibility. Besides, you should go after some younger, hot woman, not the ex-wife of your boss."

Chase smiles and laughs. "Yeah, I can only imagine what House would put me through if I were to date you."

Kate grins. "And I don't think his ego would take it well if I was dating one of his very attractive employees."

Chase is beaming from her compliment. "Right then. I am heading out. Have a good evening."

Kate smiles and nods. "You too, Chase." She watches Chase head down the hallway and then smiles to herself as she thinks _I just got hit on by a cute, young Australian. Maybe I still have it._ Kate goes into the office and starts to gather her belongings to head home for the evening. She is pulling on her jacket when Cuddy bursts into the office. Kate looks at her and instantly knows she is about to be chewed out by her best friend.

Cuddy immediately starts in on her. "Have you lost your mind?"

Kate sets her purse on the desk. "Pardon me?"

Cuddy fixes a steely gaze on her best friend. "You heard me."

"The last time I checked, my brain was still in residence."

"I'm not so sure about that. It looked like my best friend was within 30 seconds of throwing herself at her sarcastic, bitter, mean ex-husband. You know, the man she is always claiming that she cannot stand?"

Kate tries the calm route first. "Lisa, you're overreacting. It was nothing. Just Greg trying to play his manipulation game."

"Do you still love him?"

Kate snaps. "BAH! GOOD GRIEF! Is that the million dollar question this afternoon? You're the third person who's asked me that!"

Lisa crosses her arms over her chest. "You didn't answer me."

"I don't have to answer you." Kate grabs her purse.

Lisa says "This conversation isn't over."

Kate nods at her friend and says "Uh, yes, it's over."

Lisa heads for the door and opens it. "No, it isn't. We can finish the conversation when you get home."

Kate stubbornly says "Who says I'm coming home?"

Lisa turns and fixes a warning look on her friend. "Where are you going?"

"Out. Think of it as a going away type thing."

"This conversation will be finished before tomorrow. I will talk to you when you get home." Lisa hurries off down the hallway. Kate sticks her tongue out at Lisa's back. She smothers her anger and grabs her purse and keys. She heads to her car and then off to get her going away present.


	23. Chapter 23: The gift

_**Author's Note**: So, I haven't updated this is in a long time. Work and life have gotten the best of me and I just haven't had the time to write. However, the good news is that I have half of chapter 24 written and the last chapter of this story will be chapter 25. I am hoping to have it all finished by the end of the month. I would love to see some reviews, however, I completely understand if you don't want to review because I have been such a slacker about updating. Thanks to those of you who are still reading. I really appreciate it! S.B._

* * *

**Chapter 23: The gift**

Kate parks the car across the street from his apartment. She sits in the car for a moment, debating whether she should really get out and knock on his door. She watches the cold rain pound away on the windshield as she stares at his apartment door. She finally takes a deep breath and gets out of the car. She shivers as the cold rain envelopes her. She quickly shuts the door and locks the car. As she heads to his front door, she can feel the dull ache in her hip becoming more intense. She winces as she hurries into the alcove by his front door. She sharply raps on the door and then hears his muffled voice shout "I'm coming. Hold yer horses."

He opens the door to find his ex-wife standing there, soaked with rain and shivering in the cold. He shakes his head at her and then ushers her into his apartment. She steps inside and the rain rolls off her coat onto the floor. He closes the door and says "Don't you have enough sense to use an umbrella? Getting soaked and chilled can't be good for your hip."

Greg walks to his bathroom while she pulls off her coat and grumbles sarcastically "No shit! Damp and coldness bad for people who've suffered compound hip fractures? I learn something new every day!" Greg returns to the front door with a bath towel and hands it to her. She grudgingly says "Thanks" as she kicks off her shoes.

Greg gestures towards his furniture and says "I don't want you dripping all over my nice things."

Kate snorts and heads for the couch. She sits down and starts drying her hair. Greg walks over to the piano bench and sits down. He starts to play a gentle Brahms sonata. Kate slightly smiles. "I remember that tune. You used to play that when I was mad at you."

House slightly smiles. "Music to soothe the savage beast, or savage ex-wife, if you will."

Kate has finished drying her hair. She watches House play the piano. She is flooded with memories of when they were married. She finally says "Wilson told me that you had a going away present for me."

House nods. "I do."

"What is it?"

"All in due time, grasshopper." Kate sits in silence and listens to him finish play his sonata. He gets up from the piano and walks over to the couch. He studies her carefully and says "You're still shivering. You need a drink to warm you up."

House ambles into the kitchen. He quickly returns with two glasses of scotch. He hands her a glass and she gladly takes it from. She takes he sip while he sits on the couch. She starts to immediately feel warm the moment the fiery amber liquid hits her stomach. He arches an eyebrow and says "Better?"

She shyly nods. He takes a hearty gulp of his scotch and then swirls it in his glass. He holds it up to the light and closely examines the crystal tumbler and amber liquid. He then lowers the glass and says "You're unusually quiet."

"Am I?"

"You are." He knocks back the rest of his drink and gestures at her to do the same. She quickly gulps down the scotch and feels the warmth radiate through her body. He turns to her and squarely looks her in the eye. "I'm your going away present."

Kate incredulously looks at him. "What?"

"Spend the night with me. One last fling for old time's sake. I know you're interested. I know you're thinking the same thing after our little moment in my office this afternoon." He pierces her with a bright, blue-eyed stare.

Kate shakes her head. "Nothing good will come of it."

"You need to learn to throw caution to the wind. Nothing good may come of it, but nothing bad will come of it either." He leans in close to her and plants a gentle kiss on her lips.

Kate places a firm hand on chest to hold him off. "You need to understand: _if_ I decide to jump in the sack with you, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WILL COME OF IT. I'm still going back to Seattle this weekend to carry on with my life. I assume you will carry on with your life of being mean to James, making crude remarks about Lisa and belittling the ducklings."

House nods. "I can live with that." Kate removes her hand from his chest. He kisses her again, firmly. His arm slides behind her back to pull her closer to him. "It's your damn fault that I want to do this. You smell the same. That good smell. I miss that smell every damn day."

Kate jumps away. She stands up and looks at him with tears in her eyes. She gently caresses his cheek and shakes her head. She whispers "I can't do this." She hurries to the door and slides on her shoes. He jumps up from the couch and follows her. She is pulling her coat of the coat rack when he grabs his arm. "Greg—"

"Did you ever think that maybe we shouldn't have gotten divorced? Maybe we should've tried to work things out? I never did get over you."

Kate wryly laughs. "Sure you did. You met Stacy and fell in love and had a happily ever after with her until the infarction."

Greg shakes his head. "Stacy and I had an entirely different relationship than you and I did. She wanted me only to be myself when it was convenient to her needs. Most of the time, she was trying to get me to change. To be nicer, kinder, less abrasive. You never asked me to change. You accepted me for who I am."

"Oh Greg. Don't you understand? It's not you that needs to change or has changed; it's me. I know you loved me when we were married. Sure, I frustrated you a lot, but you loved me for who I was. After the accident I changed. I changed even more after the divorce. I don't know if I am capable of loving anyone anymore."

Greg rolls his eyes and says "Oh, quit being so emo and tragic. Are you going to wear too much black eyeliner and start listening to AFI and Dashboard Confessional while you write really bad poetry? Of course you're capable of loving people. Don't be ridiculous. If anything, I'd be the one incapable of loving anyone but myself."

Kate shakes her head. She looks up and pierces him with her hard emerald gaze. "Why'd you ask me to come to Princeton?"

"I was scared that I was going to die before I had the chance to tell you I was sorry."

Kate blinks in disbelief. "What?"

Greg looks askance and says "You heard me."

"Apologize then."

"I'm not dying."

Kate bitterly laughs. "I should've known." She pulls her coat on. "Good bye."

Greg blurts out "I'm so sorry, Kate. I am sorry for the pain and unhappiness I caused you."

Kate freezes in place and her face flushes. She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. She walks over to one of the windows and stares at the rain falling.

Greg follows her and takes her hands in his and says "Kate, say something."

Kate says "I forgave you years ago. I had to. My hate and anger towards you was driving me crazy."

Greg nods humbly. He never expected her to forgive him. "What happens now?"

Kate says "Nothing. I go back to Lisa's for the night. I finish up what files I have left at the hospital tomorrow and then the day after that, I go home to Seattle."

Greg puts on his best winning smile. "So, you don't want your going away present?"

Kate gently cups his face in her hand and whispers "You just gave me the best gift ever."

Greg kisses her on the forehead and then pulls her into his arms. He buries his face in her hair and murmurs "Don't go."


	24. Chapter 24: Last day

**Chapter 24: Last day**

Kate heads out to Lisa's living room. Lisa is sound asleep on the couch, exactly where she was when Kate came home the night before. Kate walks over the couch and taps Lisa on the shoulder. Lisa jerks and her eyes fly open. Lisa blurts "What are you doing?"

Kate rolls her eyes. "I am getting ready to go to work."

Cuddy rubs the sleep from her eyes. "When did you come home last night?"

Kate evasively shrugs. "It was late. You looked so cute curled up on the couch that I didn't have the heart to wake you."

Cuddy stands and stretches. "Did you sleep with House?"

Kate ignores the question. "Go get a shower. You are going to be late for your meeting this morning."

Cuddy sighs in frustration and runs a hand through her unruly curls. "Dammit, Kate, I hope you didn't. He is just going to break your heart again."

Kate says "I am heading out to the hospital now. Go get a shower. Don't be late for your first meeting, or you're going to make my meeting with you be late too."

Kate drives herself to the hospital. She has the windows down and the breeze blows her hair. The day has dawned crisp and bright. She parks the car and hops out. She heads up to House's office. The ducklings aren't anywhere to be found, but Kate correctly assumes they are somewhere since there is a fresh pot of coffee there. She is pouring herself a cup when House wanders in.

"Where's the ducklings? This is a pretty crappy welcome back party."

Kate smirks. "I was thinking that this was a crappy going away party."

House wanders over to the coffee pot and pours himself a cup. "Who made the coffee?"

Kate takes a sip and says "This has to be Cameron coffee."

Kate walks out to the balcony. Once House has poured his coffee, he joins her on the balcony. He leans on the railing next to her and says "Great weather we're having today."

Kate nods. "Indeed." She sips her coffee.

"Did you get grounded by mommy for staying out too late?"

"Mommy was asleep on the couch when I got home and I didn't wake her up until I was leaving for work. She is probably sore and cranky now."

Wilson sees Kate and House on the balcony and walks out of his office to join them. "Good morning."

They both look over at Wilson. Kate says good morning and House says "Aren't you glad she is leaving? You didn't catch her cooties while she was here, did ya?"

Wilson dryly says "I had my cooties shot before she arrived."

"Wilson, you're ever the good boy scout. Prepared for everything. So, where are you taking me for lunch today?"

"House, who said I was taking you to lunch?"

Greg smirks. "I thought it was customary to give your friend a welcome back lunch when they have been out of commission for awhile."

Wilson shakes his head. "Kate and I are going to lunch."

House incredulously says "You give her a going away lunch but won't give me a welcome back lunch? That is entirely unfair!"

Kate rolls her eyes. "If you can go for an hour without being an jerk, you can come."

House strokes his chin thoughtfully and says "An hour is a long time."

Kate shakes her head. "I'll leave you two so you can have a private reunion. I've got some things to take care of before my meeting with Cuddy."

Wilson and House watch Kate walk away. Wilson says "While I'm glad you're back; I'm going to miss her."

House pouts and says "It's because she has boobs, isn't it? It's not my fault that I'm not that pretty."

"Actually, I got used to not being verbally abused every morning when I got to work."

"You're such a baby, Wilson. Take the abuse like a man. Hell, Kate takes it like a man better than you do."

Meanwhile, Kate has attended her final meeting with Cuddy. Cuddy has chosen not to mention the previous evening and Kate doesn't mention it either. Once the meeting is over, Kate finds the ducklings in the Clinic. She pulls them into an empty exam room. "Wilson and I are taking House to lunch as his welcome back thing. I would like it if you could all join us."

Foreman looks cynical. "House agreed to this?"

Kate laughs. "Of course not. I owe him some payback for making me uncomfortable while I was here. And, even though he's going to protest and complain the entire time, he'll appreciate it."

Chase shrugs. "Sure, why not?"

Cameron nods. "I'll go."

Foreman shrugs and says "Fine. But he better not hold this against us."

Kate reassures Foreman. "I promise he won't hold it against you. We're going to Umberto's. We have a reservation for noon under my name. Meet us there, ok?"

The ducklings agree to meet at the restaurant. Foreman and Chase go back to their clinic duties, but Kate grabs Cameron before she can leave. "Hey Cameron, do you have a minute?" Cameron nods and Kate shuts the door behind the other two ducklings.

Cameron has an aloof look on her face. Kate says "Cameron, I want to thank you for being such a great person to work with. I know we had our fair share of awkwardness and disagreements, but it was a pleasure working with you."

Cameron's look softens. "Well, thanks for helping me get the article published."

Kate says "If you genuinely like House, go for it. If you can crack his shell, it will be well worth it for you."

Cameron stammers "Wh-what? I'm not interested in him."

Kate smirks. "Right. And birds don't fly south for the winter. Look, the way to his heart is confidence. Be confident in yourself and in what you believe in. Even if he doesn't agree with your beliefs, he will respect you if you stand by what you believe in. Don't straddle the fence on the tough issues. Pick the side you believe in and go with it."

Cameron indignantly says "But I do pick sides!"

Kate shakes her head. "No, you really don't. You're wishy-washy and unwilling to commit because you don't want to be condemned for choosing what might be the 'wrong' answer. You're an intelligent woman. Stop worrying about if you are wrong or right. If you believe in something, stick to your guns about it."

Cameron sighs and then asks "What about you and him?"

Kate shakes her head. "Cam, he and I are divorced. There is nothing left to us. We've managed to start a somewhat shaky friendship, but it will never be more than that."

Cameron slowly nods. She says "I really don't know if I'm still interested."

"Fair enough. Should you decide you are interested in him, follow my advice. He'll be yours in a heartbeat."

Cameron nods and smiles. "I'll keep that in mind."

Kate fights back the small flame of jealousy and forces herself to smile. She says "Now you have an unfair advantage over Greg. Use it wisely, ok?"

Kate walks out of the exam room and heads back up to the office. Greg is sitting in the desk chair watching _Jerry Springer_. Kate flips the television off and House grumbles "I was watching that!"

Kate shrugs indifferently. "It's time to go to lunch. I'm starving."

Greg stands up. They walk to Wilson's office. Greg announces "The queen is hungry and demands food. Let's go, boy wonder."

The three doctors go down to Wilson's car. They quickly arrive at the restaurant to find the ducklings waiting for them in the lobby. House gives Kate an accusatory look. "You invited them."

Kate says "Welcome back to work, Dr. House. This is also my going away lunch. You just need to suck it up and deal with it."

The group is seated. Lunch goes well. House stops pouting and is nearly pleasant to everyone. The group has a good time and several laughs. Towards the end of the meal, Kate says "Well, I officially step down and turn the ducklings back over to you, House."

House studies his ducklings. "I can tell just by looking that you made them soft."

Kate rolls her eyes. "I did not. They're just as tough as they were before."

Foreman smirks. "She gave us some pointers on how to handle you."

House flashes a dirty look at Kate. "I told you, no pointers."

"Did you? I don't remember that."

House groans. "The next thing you're going to tell me is how you sat around and shared your feelings about the cases you had! It's going to take me months to deprogram them!"

Chase says "Don't worry, she did the best to run the show like you do."

House smirks at Kate. "I think Chase just called you a bastard."

Kate grins. "I don't care. He doesn't work for me anymore." Kate glances at Wilson and says "Let's head back. I have a conference call with my boss in Seattle at 1:00. Can you guys give House a ride back to the hospital?"

House starts to object, but Wilson throws down a hundred dollar bill and says "That should cover the majority of the meal. See you guys later."

Wilson walks Kate to his car. They get in and head back to the hospital. They spend most of the car ride back to the hospital discussing how well House has recuperated from the gunshot wounds and how good it is to see him walking with relatively little pain and without his cane. Wilson turns the conversation to Kate and says "I'm going to miss you, Kate. It's been great having you here."

Kate warmly smiles at Wilson. "I have enjoyed getting to see you every day. You need to come visit me while you aren't married. Maybe we can hook you up with some Seattle sweetie and you can come live out on the west coast."

Wilson chuckles. "I don't see myself leaving New Jersey anytime soon. But I promise to come pay you a visit soon."

Kate smiles. "I guess that will have to do." Wilson parks the car and gets out. Kate walks over to him and gives him a big hug. "Thanks for everything, Jimmy. You're a great friend, and if Greg can't figure that out, the hell with him." Wilson can't help himself, he plants a kiss on her.

Across the parking deck, House is staring at Kate and Wilson. His stomach is in his throat and he is pale. The ducklings are torn between staring at House and Kate and Wilson. Chase finally breaks the silence by saying "Well, I guess that's why she wouldn't go out with me."

House glares at Chase and then stomps away. Chase says "What did I do?" Cameron and Foreman shrug and they all head into the hospital.

Kate gently shoves Wilson away. She shakes her head and says "C'mon Jimmy. It was never meant to be between us."

Wilson sheepishly nods. "I'm sorry."

Kate smirks and ruffles his hair a little. "You're not a bad kisser, Dr. Wilson. Too bad you're like a brother to me." He smiles at her and they walk back into the hospital.


	25. Chapter 25: Home

**Chapter 25: Home**

Kate wheels her suitcase out to her rental car early Saturday morning. Lisa is in the kitchen cooking breakfast for her best friend.

Kate spent the first half of Friday night convincing Lisa that she did not sleep with House. Once Lisa believed her, they decided to have a fabulous girls' night out and hit several bars around town like the used to do when they were younger. Kate and Lisa stayed out until the bars were all closed for the evening. Kate is very tired and has a vague hangover headache, but comforts herself with the knowledge that she can sleep on the plane.

Kate closes the trunk on the rental car and wistfully stares at Lisa's home. _I'm going to miss being here with my friends. _Kate thinks about how she had forgotten how much fun she has when she is with Lisa. She shakes the thought out of her head and starts to walk up the sidewalk to the front door. She knows that she has plenty of friends waiting for her back in Seattle. _But there's something to be said for old friends._

Kate waves at one of the neighbors as she picks up Lisa's newspaper to bring in. She is about open the front door when she hears him call her name.

"Kate!"

Kate turns and sees Greg standing at the end of the sidewalk. She pushes the nervousness to the back of her head and plasters a smile on her face. "Greg. I thought we already said good bye the other day."

Greg purposely strides up to Kate. He stands in front of her and peers down into her face. He is breathing heavily as if he had been running for hours. Kate immediately is concerned. "Greg, are you ok?"

He nods. "I'm fine." He glances at her and then at the rental car. "What are you doing?"

"I just loaded up the car with my suitcase and Lisa is fixing some breakfast for me. What's up?"

"I saw you kiss Wilson." Greg is breathing heavily. He carelessly wipes some sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

Kate shakes her head. "Wilson kissed me. I told him whatever signal he thought he got from me was a mistake." Greg looks confused. Kate expounds upon her statement. "It was like kissing my brother. Mostly gross and awkward. I don't have those kind of feelings for him. He seemed to think that I had feelings for him. But I absolutely do not."

Greg digests the information for a moment. In a strained voice, he says "And Chase?"

Kate rolls her eyes. "He asked me out and I said no. First of all, he waited until it was almost time for me to go home. Secondly, he is a bit young for my tastes. And lastly, I didn't kiss him. And don't worry, Foreman and Cameron didn't try to put the moves on me."

House looks at the sidewalk and says "Oh." They stand there in awkward silence. Kate is nervously fingering her keys and House traces a circle on the sidewalk with his foot.

Kate finally looks up at him and says "It's odd that it's still this warm this late in October, huh?"

"It's probably global warming and all." Greg looks up at her. "What time is your flight?"

Kate shrugs. "It's early this afternoon. You figure with driving to the airport and returning the rental and all, I'm gonna have to leave close to four hours beforehand."

House glances at the car and nods. "What's Cuddy making for breakfast? I bet it can't beat Wilson's pancakes."

Kate shakes her head in confusion. "Greg, I have no idea." She looks up at him and begs "What do you want? Don't sit here and play twenty questions and try to be coy and sarcastic and witty all at once. Just tell me what you want."

"Don't go."

Kate blinks. _I know I didn't hear him correctly_. "What?"

Greg's blue eyes are unusually bright as he stares at her and he says "I said don't go."

Kate hears the blood starting to pound in her ears. She shakes her head in disbelief and says "Don't you do this. You promised."

Greg leans in close and says "I want you to stay here. With me."

Kate feels tears burn the back of her eyes. She whispers "No."

Greg smacks the front door in frustration. "Stop it. Stay here. With me."

Kate blinks in an effort to control her tears. "Greg, I have my life to get back to in Seattle."

Greg runs a hand through his hair in frustration. "What's so great back in Seattle?"

"I have a nice house, a good job, friends—"

He interrupts her. "You've got all that here too. Well, except for a house, but when you sell your house in Seattle, you will get at least twice the house here."

Kate shakes the newspaper in her hand at him. "Ugh! Why the hell am I justifying myself to you! I am not staying here!"

"Kat, c'mon. Stay here with me. Don't be stubborn and pigheaded. Just stay. I wouldn't be standing here arguing with you if I wasn't serious. There's no shame in staying if you want to."

Kate shakes her head wordlessly. Her tears spill over and run down her cheeks. Greg pulls her into his arms and fiercely kisses her. The front door opens and Cuddy's jaw falls open in shock. Greg finishes his kiss and looks at Cuddy and rudely says "I know you haven't gotten laid by anything but a turkey baster lately, but kissing is a pretty normal function for two grown adults."

Cuddy looks outraged and sputters some unintelligible words for a moment. Then she turns on one heel and slams the door.

Greg looks down at Kate and says "Now you've got to stay. Cuddy knows about us."

Kate shoves Greg away from her. "There is no 'us'! You've lost your flipping mind if you think I am going to stay! I have a life back in Seattle that I need to get back to!"

Greg calmly says "You have a life here in New Jersey waiting for you. A life with me in it."

Kate shakes her head. "No, no I don't. Go home, Greg. I'm not staying here. That is final."

Kate goes in the house and slams the door in his face. Greg stares at the door for a good minute and finally yells "You'll be back!" He turns and runs down the street.

Kate is leaning against the inside of the front door. She is unable to control the sobs that have overcome her. She leans against the door for several minutes before she finally manages to stop crying. She goes into the kitchen and finds Lisa is mechanically eating. She flicks a scathing glance at her friend but says nothing. Kate wordlessly eats her breakfast. She helps Lisa clean up the dishes after the meal in silence.

Finally, the dishes are done. Kate looks at her friend. She quietly says "I guess it's time for me to go."

Lisa finally blurts "You said you didn't sleep with him, Kate! What the hell were you thinking?"

Kate shakes her head in denial. "Don't be ridiculous, Lisa."

"I'm not in denial! Greg House wouldn't just randomly turn up on my doorstep to plant that kind of kiss on you if you hadn't slept with him!"

Kate gives her friend a quick hug and then picks up her purse and keys and says "I'm leaving. Thank you for giving me a place to stay while I was here. Take care of yourself, ok?"

Lisa throws her hands up in frustration and says "You can't just up and leave! Tell me the truth!"

Kate coldly says "You've already made up your mind about what the truth is. Nothing I can say will change that. Goodbye, Lisa."

Kate walks out to the car. Lisa follows her. "Kate, just tell me! I don't care either way."

Kate throws an exasperated look at Lisa. "Why does it matter? It doesn't matter at all if I slept with him, or Wilson or Chase! I'm not throwing my life I've built in Seattle away for anyone or anything!" Kate opens the car door and says "Give me a call the next time you're out west. I'm never coming back here for anything."

"Kate, don't leave like this. Please. If you love him, the two of you can work it out."

Kate ignores her and gets into the rental car. She starts the engine and backs out of the driveway. She waves at her friend and then drives off.

Lisa hurries back into her house and picks up her phone. She rapidly punches in the number and hears the other end ring.

House answers the phone with a hopeful tone "Kate?"

Cuddy says "No, it's Cuddy. You slept with her, didn't you?"

House scathingly says "Cuddy, what kind of idiot would sleep with his ex-wife?"

"You would."

"Well, I didn't."

Cuddy bitterly laughs into the phone. "I hope you're happy with yourself! She's gone now. I doubt she will ever come back."

House stubbornly says "That's her loss then. I did my best to make amends. If she can't accept that, there's nothing left to be discussed."

Cuddy feels her heart constrict when she hears the dial tone. She silently curses her best friend and House for being stubborn fools and hangs up the phone.

**The End**

* * *

Thanks for reading. I apologize; I am not a big fan of happy endings. I like stories that are like real life. And we all know that real life often does not have happy endings. Try not to blast me too hard in your reviews for the not-so-happy ending. I do hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. House is a fun character to write for. He gets to say a lot of the things that I think runs through many of our heads, but we never say for one reason or another. He is a blast of icy cold air in an otherwise balmy politcally-correct society.

I doubt I will write anymore stories that are long as this one, but I am fairly certain that I will pop in with short stories here and there. While writing this was a lot of fun, I really don't have the attention span for long stories. Scruffy Boots 


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